


Taxi

by Lapal



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-05-20 17:33:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14898959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lapal/pseuds/Lapal
Summary: Serena is still a surgeon and deputy CEO at Holby. Elinor has died in an unspecified RTC. Bernie owns her own mini cab company, has previously served in the army and also worked in Holby as a paramedic. She is divorced from Marcus but has no children.As someone else has said before, if you recognise any dialogue it probably isn’t mine.





	1. My name is Bernie, and I’m your driver.

**Author's Note:**

> Bernie is at the end of a long shift but agrees to take just one last fare. That decision changes things in ways she could never have predicted. The mature rating will apply to later chapters.
> 
> I was trying for a one shot this time, but I have really struggled and decided to post this chapter now and hope to keep it to 3 chapters or less.

Taxi

Chapter 1 : My name is Bernie

 

It should have been the last fare of her shift, when she dropped Miss Coleman at the station. She’d been working for 8 straight hours, with only the occasional break for a coffee. She needed to go home, take a shower and sleep. She was just about to speak to the office to tell them she was signing off when Jasmine’s voice came over the radio.

“Ms Wolfe? I’m really sorry, I know you’re due to finish but we’ve just had a call that sounds urgent.”

“They always do,” said Bernie wearily. “Am I really the only available driver? What about Donna?”

“She’s already on a call to the airport, going to be at least 40 minutes, and Abi hasn’t started yet. Should I tell them we can’t get anyone there for at least 30 mins?”

Bernie frowned, she didn’t like to turn business away.  
“Where’s the pick-up, and what distance?”

“It’s Albie’s Bar, by the hospital, and the drop off address is only about 5 minutes from where you live. I wouldn’t even have considered asking otherwise.”  
Bernie sighed, again. She didn’t really want to take it but decided to ask Jasmine what had made the request seem urgent.

“Apparently one of the female members of the group has been drinking steadily since finishing her shift at the hospital, and a colleague is concerned because she is being pestered by an ex boyfriend who seems intent on driving her home. She is certain that if she agrees he’ll take advantage of the situation.”  
“Tell them I’ll be there in about 10 minutes. Names please?”  
“The caller’s name is Dr Digby, and your fare is a Ms Campbell.”

Bernie moved off from the kerb, thinking back to the incident that had made her sink her divorce settlement and life savings into this company. An all female drivers taxi service, G.P. Cabs, to be available to ferry possibly vulnerable individuals wherever they need to go...safely. Remembered how she’d been on duty with Holby Ambulance Service when they’d answered a call to attend a young woman who had been sexually assaulted. The fact that she had asked the bouncer at the club for the number of a local taxi service, and how the driver had taken advantage of her being drunk to try to force her to have sex with him. He had stopped just short of rape as she had managed to put up a fight, but not before he had seriously assaulted her, and then dumped her in the middle of nowhere without her phone, forcing her to wander down country lanes until she found a house. After speaking to the police officers who had also attended, she understood that this was not an uncommon occurrence and that young women and men travelling alone, who’ve over indulged in alcohol, were always going to be in danger of being propositioned by unscrupulous or more likely, unregistered cab drivers.  
She had been considering leaving the ambulance service anyway as she often found herself at odds with her superiors, and the incident helped her to make the decision to do something different with her life, to try and provide a service that seemed to be missing in Holby. She set up G.P. (Gals Pals) Cab Co. with just 2 cars and 2 drivers and had gradually built up a reputation that had enabled her to take on 3 more staff and 2 more cars. An advertising campaign, with Bernie appearing on local radio to promote the idea, had led the the council giving the bars and clubs in Holby a list of trusted mini cab services, asking them to use one of those numbers if a customer requested a taxi. And this call seemed to be exactly what she had set out to prevent. She was already imagining a young woman who was being pestered by an older man, maybe even a doctor, who wouldn’t take no for an answer. By the time she pulled up outside the bar she was ready for a confrontation, something she had never backed away from, not in the army nor as a paramedic.

  
She walked into Albie’s and looked around. It was busy as usual, and she spoke to one of the barmen who pointed her in the direction of a small group in the corner. As she walked over she could see a tall middle-aged man leaning over someone, whispering in their ear. She raised her voice so as to be heard over the general hubbub.  
“Is a Dr Digby here?” she asked clearly, and a young female jumped up from her seat.  
“Oh, great,” she said in a relieved voice, “I’m hoping you’re the taxi I ordered?”  
Bernie showed her ID, and Dr Digby moved towards the woman who was seated, the man still crowding her, his hand now curled possessively around her shoulder.

“Ms Campbell, your taxi is here.”  
The woman in question pushed herself up out of her seat and Bernie was surprised to see a much older person than she had been expecting. Not old, old; probably around her own age, but definitely not the image that she had conjured up on her way over.

“Thank you Morven,” the woman said, “although I’m certain I said I could have managed to walk home, it’s not that far.”  
The wobble that accompanied these words belied that fact and Bernie put out a hand to steady her.  
“Better safe than sorry,” she remarked.

The man who had been talking to her was clearly disgruntled.

“Not like you to go home so early Serena, you must be getting soft in your old age. I’ll be in touch soon, to see if we can rekindle that flame, eh?”

Bernie saw the flash of anger in her eyes as she rounded on the man, and heard the steely coldness in her voice.  
“Robbie, you and I will not be rekindling anything. That ship has definitely sailed. Whatever we were was a **big** mistake, and one I have no intention of repeating.”

She turned back and followed Bernie to the car.

“Would you prefer to sit in the back, or the front Ms Campbell?” Bernie asked.

She waved her hand indicating the back seat. Once Bernie was satisfied she was securely strapped in, and she herself was back in the driver’s seat, she turned round to give some necessary information to her customer. Information she gave to anyone travelling in the cab if they were more than tipsy.

  
“Firstly, my name is Bernie, and Dr Digby has provided us with your address. I’m aware it’s not far to travel but it is my duty to inform you that should you be sick in the car there will be a ‘soiling charge’ which can add as much as £40 to the cost of your journey. To help avoid that you can either give me due warning so if it’s safe, I can pull over and you can exit the vehicle, or you can try to make use of the sick bag hanging from the rear of the front seat. Do you understand, and are you in agreement to this?”

The look that was directed her way must have been very similar to the one she had given the man in Albie’s as the tone of her voice was exactly the same.

“I can assure you, _Bernie,_ that the level of alcohol in my bloodstream is nowhere near as high as it would need to be, to result in my vomiting. Something I don’t think I have done since my student days for your information. Now if you’ve finished preaching perhaps we could get moving?”

Bernie could not help the small smile that played across her face as she listened to those words. Ms Campbell (Serena was it?) might be under the influence but she certainly spoke her mind and Bernie found she didn’t mind that at all.  
She nodded. “As long as we understand each other, I’m happy to take your evaluation of the level of intoxication. ETA approximately 15 minutes.”

Ms Campbell didn’t say anything else but on every occasion that Bernie glanced in her rear view mirror she saw that her eyes were fixed very firmly on the back of her head, and a small smile had curved the edges of (what Bernie regarded as) a very attractive mouth. It was closer to 10 minutes when she pulled up outside her house, and Bernie exited quickly to go around and open the door.

“Chivalrous too! Do you intend to escort me to my door as well?”

“As long as you understand that that would incur a surcharge Ms Campbell,” responded Bernie, keeping her face as blank as she could, but when she heard a deep throaty chuckle she couldn’t help but smile in response.

“I think I’ll manage.” There was a pause, “Oh, and as you seem to prefer first name terms, mine is Serena.”

And with remarkable poise she walked to her front door and managed to open it on only her third attempt.  
Bernie had got back into the car and was sitting there grinning. She was rather glad she had taken this last fare now, and driving the short distance to her own home she found she hoped that Serena would be using their services again.

When Serena awoke the next morning her head was pounding and she had to make herself get up, shower and drink a much needed coffee and a glass of water, to wash down a couple of paracetamol. She was very glad that her nephew Jason had been staying over at his friend’s last night, she felt she would have struggled to contend with his endless questions this morning. Forcing down some toast as well she tried to piece together her memories of yesterday evening. That she had over indulged was evident from her hangover, but the rest was only coming back to her as flashbacks, little still images in her head.  
‘ _Oh, god,_ ” she thought, ‘ _do I remember seeing Robbie_?’  
She could picture him bending over her, his pudgy, bristly face close to her ear as he tried his best to persuade her to forgive him. A cold chill ran down her spine as she tried to remember if it had been Robbie who had brought her home. After a couple of deep breaths she reasoned that if he had, he would have fought tooth and nail to get into the house, and her bed, and there was no way she would have forgotten that, or allowed it.

‘Especially not last night,’ she thought, a sob escaping her lips as she looked across the room at the photo of Elinor, her daughter, smiling as if she hadn’t a care in the world, just a week before she had been involved in a RTC that had resulted in her death. Yesterday would have been her 23rd birthday, nearly 18th months since….  
Serena shook her head, and went back upstairs to get dressed. She was slowly recalling pieces of the evening and remembered that someone, probably Morven, had called for a cab to take her home, so that meant her car was still at the hospital, and that perhaps a gentle walk over there might just be what she needed to clear her head.  
As she was combing her hair before leaving the house an image of a woman with untamed blond tresses came into her mind, swiftly followed by the memory of the same woman lecturing her on the perils of throwing up in her cab. She smiled to herself, thinking that there was every chance that before too long she would remember her name. She decided to ask Morven which company she had used, in case she ever needed to call for a taxi herself.

Over the next few weeks both Serena and Bernie reminisced over the woman they had met that night. Not that either of them thought too deeply as to why, but they both had found something rather compelling about their brief encounter. Bernie, in particular, had been intrigued by Serena. An obviously successful woman who, as drunk as she had certainly been, had still maintained an air of dignity, had exuded a ‘presence’. She didn’t dwell on it, but every time she went to pick up or drop off someone at the hospital, she found herself scanning the people going in and out in case she caught a glimpse of that very attractive face.  
It was nearly a month later that she received an instruction to pick up a fare at the hospital, and she felt a little tightening of her stomach when she was told the name…. Ms Serena Campbell.  
Donna was the dispatcher this evening, and after giving Bernie the details she asked if the fare was a friend of hers.  
“No, I picked her up a few weeks ago when she needed help to get home. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, no reason really. It was just she asked for you by name, and when I didn’t recognise her as a regular, and she doesn’t have an account with us I just presumed you knew her outside of work.”

Bernie set off for the hospital with a warm feeling in her chest. Ridiculous she knew, but she was pleased that Serena had remembered her name, especially as she would have thought her memory of that evening would have been pretty hazy. As she pulled up to the pick up point, she spotted her sitting on a bench with her arm around a man who had his eyes fixed steadfastly on the floor in front of him. She seemed to be speaking to him, their heads almost touching, and Bernie thought with a pang that this male seemed to be far more in favour than the chap she had seen in Albie’s. She climbed out of the car and walked over to them.

“Ms Campbell? Your carriage awaits,” she announced.  
Serena lifted her head and Bernie was rewarded with a look of gratitude and a big smile.  
“Come on Jason,” she said to the man sitting next to her. “I told you, someone called Bernie would be coming to rescue us didn’t I?”  
Jason lifted his head and Bernie suddenly felt so much lighter when she realised that he was a lot, lot younger than she had thought. It crossed her mind that it may be her son.

“Rescue?” she said. “You make me sound like a knight in shining armour!”

Jason looked at her closely as he considered her words.

“I don’t understand why you think you sound like a knight. You have no armour which could cause a clanking noise and we’re not living in the Middle Ages.”  
Serena gave Bernie an apologetic look and ushered Jason to his feet.  
“It’s just a figure of speech Jason, an idiom. I’ll explain it later, but for now let’s get home so it’s not too late for me to cook us something to eat.”  
Jason turned towards Bernie.  
“It’s our fish and chip night really, but because someone has stolen Auntie Serena’s car we’ll probably be eating beans on toast.”  
Bernie opened the rear door for them to get in, and before she climbed in Serena put her hand on Bernie’s arm and leaned in close to whisper.  
“Is it okay if Jason sits in the front with you? He hates sitting in the back, and he’s not in a very good mood right now.”

Bernie smiled as she turned towards him.  
“Jason? Would you mind sitting in the front with me? It’s much easier to chat and if I get lost you can help guide me.”  
Jason gave her a big grin and Bernie was charmed by how much it transformed his face. As she got into the driver’s seat she turned round to speak to Serena.  
“Would you like to stop to pick up fish and chips on the way? No extra charge, I’m just finishing so you’re not preventing me from picking up another fare.”  
Serena was so surprised she said nothing for a moment.  
“No, I can’t expect.. I mean, that would be lovely, but no, that wouldn’t be fair.”  
Jason interrupted.  
“She offered Auntie, and you know you’re tired and you’re going to have to spend time reporting your car being stolen so heaven knows what time I’ll get anything to eat.”

Bernie raised an eyebrow, still looking at Serena and shrugged.  
“I honestly do not mind.”

Serena sighed slightly, “ if you’re sure?”

  
“Happy to help.”

  
“Then thank you….. really.. thank you.”

When they finally arrived at Serena’s home, she sent Jason inside with their dinner while she stopped to pay Bernie.  
“Look,” said Bernie, “ why don’t I just set up an account for you? That way, hopefully, you’ll think of us first when you need a cab, and you can just settle it monthly on-line.”

Serena gave her a tired but happy smile.

“Oh, I’ll definitely be using this company again. And thank you so much for your understanding this evening. Jason is lovely but .. challenging. It’s not many that can cope with him without being warned but you seemed to get it. I really appreciated that.”

Bernie blushed slightly, trying to figure out why a compliment from this woman made her feel slightly off kilter.  
“He says it as he sees it. Rather refreshing to meet someone as straightforward as he appears to be. Although I can understand that that would probably bring its own problems.”

Serena stood there still smiling, wishing that her brain would engage with a thought other than how pretty this woman was, when suddenly there was a shout from the house.  
“Auntie Serena,” yelled Jason, “could you hurry up please, I’m hungry!”  
Serena rolled her eyes and Bernie laughed.

“Better go I suppose. And by the way… please, no more Ms Campbell, I told you before, it’s Serena, okay?”  
Bernie nodded, and once back in the car she pulled away from the kerb, looking in her rear view mirror as she did. She was both surprised and pleased to see Serena still standing there, staring after her.

Bernie was in the office bright and early the next morning, and stood staring despondently at the ever growing pile of paper on her desk. She sat down and started shifting through the mail, a fair amount of which could be instantly thrown into the recycling bin, but that still left a large amount of admin to be tackled, and she hadn’t even looked at her emails.  
‘ _I’m beginning to think I need a secretary,_ ’ she thought, ‘ _or at least someone who has an inkling about running a business, and who could act as an advisor – free of charge!’_  
She decided to start with the easy stuff first and set about creating an account for Serena.

The lady in question had only just remembered that she would need a lift to work that morning, and mentally berated herself for not having thought of it last night when Bernie had dropped her and Jason home. She was very surprised when the phone was answered by the woman herself. In fact her mind went blank as she heard her voice.  
“Hello, G.P. Cabs,” Bernie repeated, and Serena was jolted out of her trance.

“Sorry, er, hi… it’s me… Ms Campbell…er.. Serena.” She blushed as she spoke wishing the ground would open up and swallow her, especially when she heard Bernie trying to suppress a small snort of laughter on the other end of the phone.

“Hello Serena,” Bernie responded, “ you sound a bit frazzled today. I’m assuming you need a cab?”

“Yes, yes I do. Silly of me, I know I should have arranged this last night. I wasn’t expecting to hear your voice though. Do you all take turns in the office?”

“Pretty much, although I avoid it as much as I can. But today, for my sins, I’m stuck here until 5pm. Now let’s see who’s available to help you out. What time do you need us?”

Serena had to squash a sigh, when she realised she would have to accept that Bernie wasn’t going to be her driver today.  
‘Not that that’s the reason I rang this company,’ she thought. ‘They just seem very proficient at their job.’  
Bernie cleared her throat as everything seemed to have gone quiet at the other end and Serena blinked a couple of times before she continued.  
  
“I’ll need picking up at 9.30am, and I’ll also need you this evening, I mean a cab this evening, around 6.00pm.”  
Serena could hardly believe how tongue-tied she had become, it felt as if her brain and her mouth were not connected at all, and she was very glad that Bernie couldn’t see how red she had gone.

“All booked,” said Bernie.  
She was trying to keep the smile out of her voice, finding Serena’s confusion quite adorable, but she didn’t want to make her feel worse.  
“Donna will be with you at 9.30 and I’ve already set up your account. Perhaps you could let Donna have your email address, and then I’ll send your account details to you.”

“Thank you. I’m impressed you have it all organised, even in the NHS we appreciate that kind of efficiency. I… hope.. I’ll hope….um.. well, maybe we’ll meet up again before too long.”

Serena almost dropped her phone in her haste to stop herself saying anything else embarrassing. She wasn’t normally this inarticulate and was completely puzzled as to why this woman was reducing her to a babbling wreck. She shrugged. Probably another symptom of the menopause she decided, her brain was turning to mush.

By the time the evening dispatcher came into the office at 5.30pm Bernie was at screaming point. She had managed to get a fair bit done, but there were still forms to fill in and a rota to complete before the end of the week, and there was no way that she was going to spend another day in the office. Although she normally kept work and home completely separate she decided she would take some work back with her rather than stay another minute.  
As she was set to leave, however, she had a thought and asked Jasmine to let Angie, who was booked to pick up Ms.Campbell, that she would take it instead, as it was on her way home. She didn’t waste time analysing the real ‘whys and wherefores’ of her decision, she was quite well aware that she found Serena intriguing and it had been far too long since she had felt such a strong physical attraction to another woman. She had no reason to think that Serena would ever think of her as anything other than a friend, but genuinely thought that there was some sort of connection between them and figured that having her as a friend would better than nothing.

She arrived at the hospital with only a couple of minutes to spare, and she spotted Serena coming out of the main doors with 3 or 4 others, who looked as if they were trying to persuade her to go with them. Bernie got out of the car and walked over.  
“Still require a ride home Ms Campbell?” she asked.  
Serena looked up at the sound of her voice and she gave a surprised smile and nodded before she turned to her colleagues.  
“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think I’d be good company tonight. I’ll be in touch.”

She followed Bernie back to the car, and when she opened the rear door for her, Serena paused.

“Don’t suppose you’d mind me sitting up front tonight would you? I think I’d feel less isolated.”  
“Sounds like it’s been a rough day,” remarked Bernie, indicating for her to get into the front passenger seat. “Want to talk about it?”  
“Not really,” said Serena, “unless you happen to be a computer whizz kid and know how to track down a hacker.”  
Bernie laughed.  
“I know the barest details I need to manage the business. And I pay a small fortune for a top of the range security system, beyond that I’m pretty clueless.”  
“Snap,” said Serena, “although the admin side I’m pretty good at, you know spreadsheets and presentations, but this is a whole other ball game. It’s also safe to say that the NHS while very security conscious doesn’t have the money to employ top end IT consultants, so as deputy CEO you can guess who got the job of hushing this all up, whilst also finding how they got into the system.

Bernie suddenly had an idea.

“Why don’t you send an email asking the staff if anyone has had a break-in recently? One that’s resulted in a theft of a computer or even a phone? That happened once when I was in the army, fortunately the person in question didn’t have much for them to access so no real damage was done.”  
Bernie looked at Serena to see what she thought of the idea and noticed she’d gone deathly pale.

“What’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“My laptop, it was in the car. I’d been working on a new staffing rota for Hanssen and for some reason I didn’t take it in with me.”  
“And you didn’t make the connection?”  
“Why would I? It would take someone with an actual brain to work that out!”  
Serena sighed and placed her hand on Bernie’s arm.  
“Look, I’m sorry, I’ll have to go back in and tell Henrik. I’ll pay for the fare anyway, and ring again when I’m ready to leave.”  
Bernie put her hand over Serena’s that was still resting on her arm.  
“Don’t worry about that. You go and see your CEO, and I’ll go and wait in the coffee shop inside. When you’ve finished come and find me and I’ll drive you home.”

Serena’s eyes widened in surprise.  
“I can’t ask you to do that. You’ll lose business sitting there. I don’t want to be responsible for that as well.”  
Bernie looked at her with a soft smile.  
“I’ve already clocked off. I’d like to do this….. as a friend?”  
Serena’s stomach gave a little flip as she gazed into Bernie’s eyes and for a moment neither of them moved.  
“Well, that’d be lovely, if you’re sure,” she said gratefully. “I’ll be as fast as I can.”  
She squeezed Bernie’s hand and was out of the car and walking into the hospital before Bernie could respond.  
It was nearly two hours later that Serena appeared at Pulses, where Bernie was nursing her 4th cup of coffee, although she had wisely moved onto de-caffeinated after the first two. She looked up at Serena and took in the weariness in her face and the slump of her shoulders.

“Come on, let’s get you home.”  
“I wasn’t sure you’d still be here. Wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d gone.” said Serena hollowly as she followed Bernie to the car.  
“I said I’d wait and I meant it” she replied and held the front door open. “I take it the outcome wasn’t great. Head on the chopping block?”  
“Not really Hanssen’s style,” said Serena. “A months suspension and keeping my head down until it’s all blown over. Luckily there weren’t any patient files on it, otherwise it might have been a very different story.”  
Serena lapsed into silence and didn’t speak again until they pulled up outside her house. She sat without moving for a couple of minutes and Bernie struggled with what to say.

“Look, I’m sure it’s been difficult to admit what happened, but you can hardly blame yourself for the car being stolen. And from what you’ve said, things could have been a lot worse.”  
Serena stirred, as if awakening from a trance.  
“Oh no, you’re right. Henrik was as fair as he could be in the circumstances.”

And then, to Bernie’s surprise she gave a small sob and when she looked at her properly she could see wetness on her cheeks.  
“I’ve just had a bit of bad news as well.”  
Bernie didn’t want to pry, and just sat there to see if Serena would say any more. She turned towards Bernie as she wiped her face with her fingers.

“I… I don’t suppose you’d want to come inside for a minute or two would you? I’d like to talk, but…. no, I’m sorry, we hardly know each other, I shouldn’t have asked.”  
Bernie hesitated before answering, she didn’t want Serena to share something she might regret later.  
“I’m happy to listen if you need to get something off your chest. I do know that it sometimes  
helps to speak to a comparative stranger. I’m not a novice to the world of psychotherapy I’ll have

you know.”  
When Serena gave her a surprised look, she tried to explain without going into great detail. It wasn’t something she normally felt comfortable sharing, but it felt different, talking to her. She took a deep breath.

“I’ve…. been treated.. for PTSD, from my army days. I promise I’m not dangerous, just don’t always sleep that well. But if you’d rather go somewhere neutral, like a pub, that’s fine.”

Serena shook her head and invited Bernie into her home. After pouring them both a glass of wine she went on to explain that Hanssen had told her that one of the junior doctors, that she had mentored until very recently, had been admitted to the hospital earlier that evening. He had been diagnosed with cancer only 9 months previously and due to its aggressive nature was now not expected to last much longer. As she spoke, more and more tears fell, and Bernie had taken her hand into her own, giving it gentle strokes to try and help her calm down.  
She told her how she’d gone to see him before she left and had found Morven, his wife, sitting by his bed, and the pain and anguish in her eyes had brought back all the barely buried emotions from when her own daughter had died. At this admission she fell against Bernie, who instinctively slid her arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards her in the hope of offering some small degree of comfort. Bernie had no children of her own, and could only imagine the terrible pain and loss Serena must be feeling. She was amazed at how strong this woman must be, and how moved she felt that she had trusted her enough to let her see her so vulnerable.

After a while the tears stopped and Serena pushed herself away from Bernie, with an apologetic look on her face.  
“Forgive me… I had no right to… I don’t normally break down in front of virtual strangers.”  
“It’s fine,” said Bernie softly, “I’m just glad I was here when you needed someone.”  
Serena gave her a weak smile. “Thank you.”  
“Is there anything else I can do?” Bernie asked. “Although it’s obvious you won’t need a lift into work any time soon. At least your time off should give you chance to look for a new car.”  
“True,” said Serena, “I don’t suppose… you’d be willing to help, you know, maybe give me some advice?”  
Serena then put her head into her hands, shaking it as she did.  
“No, I’m sorry… I’m doing it again. I seem intent on involving you in my life when you have your own life and I barely know you. I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed and you happen to be the unlucky recipient that decided to unburden myself to. I’ll be okay by morning.”

Bernie smiled. “No apology needed. If I can help I will, and while I’m no expert, I’d be happy to point out some of the pitfalls.”  
Serena’s face broke into the biggest smile Bernie had seen that evening, and she was struck once again at just how attractive this woman was.

“Really? I mean are you sure, because that would be wonderful. I’d offer my services to you, but I really don’t want to find you being admitted to hospital now, or in the future.”  
Bernie crossed her fingers. “Neither do I! I have no desire to be back on the wards of Holby, I can assure you.”  
Serena wanted to ask what had happened to her, but felt she had taken up more than enough of her time and already prevailed upon her very good nature. She stood up and started to walk to the front door.  
“Well, you have my mobile number, so just give me a ring or text over the next few days to let me know when you might be available for car hunting. And maybe a coffee sometime too?”  
Serena felt a little awkward as she said this, and knew her face was flushed as she opened the front door to let Bernie out.

After thanking her (once again) she went back into the lounge and was reminded of how comfortable she had been, leaning against Bernie, and how safe she had made her feel, even though she really knew very little about her. ‘It’s a long time since I’ve had a friend of roughly my own age,’ she thought. ‘I hope she feels that we could be friends too.’  
She was undressed and getting into bed when her phone buzzed. She opened the message and read the text.

**Hi. It’s Bernie. Thought I’d send you a quick message so that you’ve got my number too. I hope you aren’t feeling too down after everything. If you need to chat, just text or call. I’ll be in touch as soon as I can re car hunting. Take care. B.**

Serena couldn’t explain the warm sensation that enveloped her as she read the message. She felt her mouth curling up into a smile and she quickly replied.

**Serena here… well you know that, obviously. Just wanted to say thank you again for your kindness tonight. I’ll try not to be such a gibbering wreck the next time we meet. I do feel much better than I thought I would, and that’s down to you. I’ll wait to hear from you. S. x**

As she sent the message Serena had a moment of panic over the kiss, especially when she realised Bernie hadn’t put one. She shrugged her shoulders. It couldn’t be changed and she hoped that Bernie wouldn’t find it odd. She did feel that they had some sort of connection.

The following day Bernie made sure to give herself some time off before the end of the week, and arranged with Serena to pick her up and take her to a couple of garages/car dealers who she felt she could trust. She was looking forward to meeting Serena without it being a business arrangement. She already knew that she was attracted to her, and she was happy that Serena seemed relaxed around her. She had looked at the kiss at the end of her text message with a little thrill, but was honest enough with herself to admit that that was no indication that Serena was interested in anything other than friendship. She arranged to pick her up on Friday at 9.30am, to go and try to find a car, and then have a late lunch in some cosy pub, well away from Holby.

On Friday morning Serena found herself pacing to and fro in her lounge, stopping every few minutes to look through the window to see if Bernie had arrived. She had changed her outfit twice already, mainly because Jason had remarked that the new blouse she had put on was horrible. She didn’t normally take fashion advice from her nephew but for some reason she was so nervous about meeting Bernie today that she allowed herself to be swayed by his observation.

‘ _Good grief woman,’_ she remonstrated with herself, ‘ _it’s not as if you’re going on a date_.’  
And even as she thought these words she felt her stomach churn, and she realised that she found Bernie very easy to be around, and she enjoyed her company. What was more difficult to admit was that she was physically attracted to her and she couldn’t stop herself wondering if Bernie found her attractive too. She was gazing out of the window trying to understand what this could possibly mean when she saw Bernie standing on the drive, looking at her with an amused smile on her face. She jumped, and rushed to the door, nearly tripping over in her haste to get there, her face flushed with embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry, had you been there long? I was miles away, and I didn’t see your car.”  
Bernie grinned.  
“I’ve literally just got here, and you wouldn’t have recognised my car anyway…. I don’t always drive a vehicle that has a sign on top that says G.P. Cabs you know.”  
Serena blushed again.  
“Of course not, how stupid of me. Right, just let me get my bag and we can be on our way.”

As she turned back to pick it up from the hall table she could feel her heart hammering in her chest, and she tried to take some deep breaths to steady herself. Bernie would think her a complete idiot if she didn’t calm down and start acting her age. Little did she know that Bernie’s cool exterior hid a butterfly-ridden stomach as she too fought to stay in control. Something she was finding very hard to do as she took in the skirt Serena was wearing, that showed off a pair of shapely legs she hadn’t seen before, as they were usually encased in trousers.

Minutes later they were in Bernie’s rather sporty car and speeding off towards the first dealership. As Bernie settled into driving she started to relax, and Serena also felt a degree of normality return as they chit-chatted about the sort of car she was after, and how much (roughly) she wanted to spend. The morning passed quickly as they discussed the merits of the various cars they saw, and by the time they arrived at the pub that Bernie had decided on, they were both feeling on something of a high. Serena had more or less decided on one of the cars she had seen but had held off making a firm decision, her business brain telling her that giving herself time to think about it was always a good strategy. Bernie had enjoyed offering what advice she could and had definitely enjoyed watching Serena clamber in and out of her own, rather low riding car, on one occasion even getting a glimpse of a very sexy looking thigh. What she hadn’t enjoyed quite so much, but had had to admire, was Serena’s ability to flirt with all and sundry to try and get the outcome she wanted. It was very subtle, but very successful, if the look on the salesmen’s faces were anything to go by.

They found a table with comparative ease and Serena insisted that any drinks and food were to be her treat, as a way of saying thank you for all the help Bernie was giving. She went up to the bar to place their order and while waiting to be served she looked around, thinking that it seemed the sort of place that Jason might enjoy. Suddenly she found her eyes locked with Bernie’s, and breathing normally was once again proving difficult. Bernie didn’t look away and Serena thought that she may have to sit down, as she felt light-headed and her legs were decidedly wobbly. The barman’s voice cut through the fog in her brain and she dragged her eyes away to focus on him, although it took her more than one attempt tell him what they wanted. Her walk back with their drinks to where Bernie was sitting, was still very shaky and she had to apologise for having spilt some on the way.

“Are you alright?” asked Bernie, “you look very warm.”  
Exhaling loudly as she sat down, Serena took a moment before answering.  
“I’m fine, thank you. I… I did feel a little faint while I was at the bar. Probably due to getting up late and missing breakfast.”  
And she gave a rueful grin as if to say she should know better. Bernie patted her hand.  
“Well when they call our order, I’ll go and get it… no arguments!”

They were both relieved when their food was ready, and as they ate, the natural rhythm of conversation once again resumed. Serena learnt of Bernie’s time in the army, first as a despatch driver, and then as an ambulance driver. She mentioned but didn’t dwell on the affair she had had with Alex, a female anaesthetist in the RAMC , simply citing that the discovery and admittance that she was gay was what had led to the inevitability of her divorce.  
“I think that if I’d been able to assure him it was a moments aberration he would probably have been prepared to give it another go. He wasn’t entirely the wrong fit for me, we had been great mates, but I think underneath, I’d known all along that it wouldn’t last.”  
She sighed.  
“I did try, for a while, after the accident that sent me back here, but I knew I was only hiding from myself. I’m just relieved that I had no children to screw up as well.”  
She looked up at Serena and saw the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes.  
“Shit, I’m so sorry Serena. I wasn’t thinking when I dismissed the idea of having children….”  
Serena waved her hand in front of her face.

“It’s okay. It’s something I’d thought about after….”  
She paused, to compose herself and Bernie reached across the table to cover a hand with hers.  
“I wondered, if I’d given Edward another chance, not been so focused on carving out my own career, maybe… if I’d stopped and told my daughter more often, how much she meant to me, she… wouldn’t have gone off the rails so spectacularly.”  
Bernie moved to sit in the chair next to Serena, never letting go of her hand and gently placed her arm around Serena’s shoulders. Serena sniffed and blinked a couple of times to prevent any tears falling. She turned her head towards Bernie and rolled her eyes.  
“Sorry,” she said with a wry smile. “I seem determined to embarrass you as well as myself.”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Bernie said gently. “Shall we go somewhere less public?”  
Serena nodded and they stood up and started to walk towards the door, when they both looked down and realised they were still holding hands. Their eyes moved up and they looked at each other and for a moment neither moved. Bernie squeezed her hand lightly before letting go.

Once outside Bernie took a deep breath, running her hands through her hair.  
“Right, do you want to go anywhere else, or just go for a drive? Or is there anything else you had in mind?”  
Even as the words came out of her mouth she cringed, thinking exactly of the ‘anything else’ she had in mind. Little did she know that for one split second Serena had pictured herself pressing her lips to Bernie’s, which caused a feeling of a hundred butterflies to start fluttering in her stomach, and she shook her head to clear the image, which Bernie mistakenly took to mean she wanted to go home.

“Home it is then,” she said with a forced brightness, knowing that what she really wanted was to spend more time in this woman’s company.  
“No!” said Serena, more forcibly than she’d intended. She tried again.

“No. I’d rather stay away from home for a bit longer, if you don’t mind. I’m going to be spending enough time there over the next few weeks. So, perhaps a walk?”

The relief on Bernie’s face was evident to anyone.  
“Great! There’s a country park not far from here with some trails already mapped out, depending on how energetic you’re feeling.”  
Bernie held open the door of her car for Serena to climb in, and failed miserably to tear her eyes away from the flash of thigh as Serena lowered herself into the seat. She looked up to see Serena’s eyes on her face and she blushed at having been caught out.

“I see you’ve had the same thought as me,” said Serena, with a smile and Bernie nearly forgot how to breathe as she walked around the car to the driver’s seat.  
“Um, what…. what do.. um.. do you mean?”  
Serena sighed looking down at her feet, encased in a very pretty pair of red kitten heeled shoes.

“I’m not really wearing the correct sort of footwear for much of a hike am I?”  
Bernie hadn’t realised she’d been holding her breath until it all came out in a rush.  
“Gosh, no. I.. I might have some trainers in the boot. If you’re about a size 6? Or would you rather not go or..”  
Bernie’s brain didn’t seem to be engaged with her mouth, and she saw Serena start to smile, an amused look on her face.  
“I’m sure I could manage a short walk in these, as long as it’s not too muddy. The trainers might fit, but I don’t feel they would suit my outfit today.”  
Serena was all but outright laughing now and Bernie felt herself grow even redder, but managed to smile in return.  
“Well, there is a short trail of about half a mile, and there are a few benches dotted around it just in case. Sorry about the trainer remark. Fashion sense isn’t very high on my list of accomplishments, I tend to just grab whatever’s clean most days.”  
Serena raised an eyebrow.  
“Well in that case I’d say you’re very good at buying clothes that suit you perfectly. You do have an obvious advantage of having a lovely figure that shows them off so well.”

Bernie cleared her throat and drove away from the pub, not trusting herself to make any remark that didn’t sound like she was flirting back, but was secretly pleased that Serena had obviously been looking at her. She started to feel very warm and asked her if she’d mind if she rolled a window down.  
“No, that’s fine,” said Serena who also was feeling a little flushed, wondering why on earth her mind seemed intent on making her feel like a teenager on their first date. She decided to keep her mouth closed for a while in the hope of getting her thoughts back into order.

To ease the atmosphere that seemed to have built up between them, Bernie put on a random music station, which they both enjoyed, finding themselves humming or singing along to some of the tracks. It only took 15 minutes to get to the park, and Bernie directed her to the Woodland trail, which was thankfully on a firm path, some areas of it even being paved. Even so, when they were just over halfway round, Serena asked if they could just rest up for a short while, sitting on a nearby bench, easing her feet out of her shoes.  
Bernie nodded and sat down too, but after a couple of minutes indicated she was just going to walk over to have a closer look at a little copse that was too boggy for Serena to access. Serena watched her walk away, taking a good look at her long limbs and slim frame for the umpteenth time that day. Impulsively she pulled out her phone and took a picture, struck by how the sunlight, filtering through the leaves, was shining on Bernie’s hair. She put her phone away quickly not wanting to be caught in the act. She leaned forward and covered her face with her hands trying to compose herself, to admit that she found Bernie captivating, and instead found herself floundering in a sea of emotions that she had no idea how to process. She jumped when she heard Bernie’s voice close to her ear, and felt her hand lightly rest on her shoulder.  
“Serena, are you alright?”  
She moved away under the guise of reaching for her shoes, and sighed.  
“I’m fine, honestly. Just a little tired I think. The last week finally catching up on me. Hope I haven’t spoilt the walk for you.”  
“Of course you haven’t. Come on let’s get back to the car and go home.”  
They carried on walking, and once back in the car Bernie again put the radio on to cover what otherwise might be an awkward silence. She pulled onto Serena’s drive a mere 45 minutes later and walked to the door with her.  
“You’ve got the details of the garage where you saw the car you liked haven’t you?”  
Serena nodded.  
“Well, if you need anymore help in deciding, or change your mind and want to go elsewhere, just give me a bell okay? Or if you just fancy getting out of the house, or some company, let me know.”  
Serena smiled and put her hand on her arm.  
“Thank you so much for today. You’ve been… well, it’s been lovely. I can’t believe that I’ve hardly thought about work at all.”  
And then, before her brain had time to tell her to stop, she leaned in to Bernie and pressed her lips lightly to her cheek before turning swiftly and entered the house, leaving a stunned Bernie looking at a door that was closing.  
“Right, good. Glad to hear it,” she mumbled as the door clicked shut, and she stumbled back to her car.

Serena stood on the other side of the door, her eyes closed her breath ragged. She couldn’t believe she’d kissed her cheek and then virtually shut the door in her face. Her heart started to race even more as she acknowledged that the original move had been to kiss her lips but some sort of self preservation instinct had cut in. She found her way into the kitchen without opening her eyes and leant heavily on the counter taking deep breaths. When she felt steady enough she pushed herself upright and tried to think of what she could rustle up for Jason when he got back from work, but gave it up as a bad job after she had opened and closed the fridge and food cupboard three times without taking in anything of what was inside. She decided that if she hadn’t pulled herself together by the time he arrived home, she’d order him a takeaway.  
She wandered into the lounge and lay on the sofa her mind going over the events of the day, the times that Bernie had held her hand or tried to soothe her with an arm around her shoulders. Little actions that she would use everyday herself suddenly seemed momentous when it was Bernie. She gave a self conscious giggle. Was she having a mid-life crisis, or was she really, truly thinking of entering into a relationship with a woman? Her friends would never believe it, as she wouldn’t have about 6 weeks ago.  
She sat upright and gave herself a shake. Now that she’d allowed herself to admit the attraction she started to feel less anxious. And just because she appeared to be experiencing a very definite desire for Bernie did not mean that Bernie felt the same way about her. The fact that she was a self confessed ‘later in life lesbian’ did not automatically mean that she was attracted to every female she interacted with. She took herself back into the kitchen with a slightly more focused mind. She’d simply have to wait and see what happened next.

Bernie had gone home feeling more than a little out of sorts. She’d tried very hard to disguise how attracted she was to Serena, but felt that she hadn’t succeeded very well. She was sure that Serena had noticed the way she’d been almost drooling over her at times, and felt ashamed that if she’d seen that behaviour in a man, she would have found it distasteful. But the woman did something to her that made her act totally out of character.  
Those little touches and her arm on Serena’s shoulder were not things she normally felt comfortable doing. Yet it had seemed so natural with Serena that she had had to physically restrain herself from pulling her closer or pressing her lips to her head. She put her hand up to her cheek remembering how soft her face had felt against hers, how sweet the pressure from her lips. She also knew without a doubt that had Serena not retreated into the house so rapidly that she would have turned her round and kissed her properly. She sighed and wondered how to deal with the fact that she really, really wanted to be taking Serena on a proper date, holding hands and kissing her, repeatedly. She felt a familiar ache between her legs that she refused to act upon. She would wait and see what happened next.

 

 


	2. Going the Extra Mile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bernie and Serena are getting closer, both of them of course, blissfully unaware that the others’ feelings are getting deeper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a much slower burn than I’d intended, and I was very distracted by the two episodes of Holby featuring the return of our very own BMAM. Consequently this chapter now seems very tame. I do promise to rank it up to the Mature rating in the last chapter.  
> Thank you to everyone who has left comments and kudos. They mean a lot..

Chapter 2 : Going that extra mile.

  
The very fact that they had both decided to ‘wait and see’ meant that neither of them took the initiative to contact the other and a few days passed with no messages between them. Serena decided this meant she had embarrassed Bernie by her actions and that she was giving her some space to let things cool down. Bernie meanwhile believed Serena to have regretted the kiss, and so was giving her space so that she could act as if nothing had happened the next time they met. They both came to the erroneous conclusion that the other, wanted nothing more than to be friends. It didn’t stop them endlessly checking their phones though, in case they had missed a call; and every time Bernie’s radio crackled in her cab, she couldn’t stop wishing it was going to be Serena, in need of a lift somewhere.   
Eventually, Serena accepted that she needed to get back to the garage to complete the paperwork for her new car, but didn’t want to ask Bernie for a lift as a friend, so knew she would have to book a cab. She also felt awkward about seeing or speaking to Bernie, having left it longer than she’d intended without contacting her, and had hummed and hawed about using a different company. She then worried that if she did that, Bernie would find out and be hurt. So she gritted her teeth and made the call. She was relieved when it wasn’t Bernie who answered, and although she had to leave her name she purposely didn’t make any request for Bernie to be her driver, and simply booked a cab for 9.30am tomorrow.

Bernie started her shift at 6.00am as she knew she needed to spend the afternoon back in the office, she couldn’t put off her administrative duties any longer. She was trying to push to the back of her mind that she had heard nothing from Serena, and welcomed the busy rush hour to distract her. So when she was told at 9.15am that her next fare was a pick up at 9.30 at the home of Ms Campbell, she felt a moment of panic. She almost asked if there was anyone else available, and then mentally shook herself for being so immature. They were grown women for goodness sake and it had only been a kiss to the cheek. (An action that would have had very little significance if neither of them were attracted to the other.) She would accept the call and behave in a professional manner, taking her cues from Serena.  
Serena was also nervous, full of apprehension, wondering if it would be Bernie who picked her up. She couldn’t decide which would be worse… having to face her after her display of affection had made her feel uncomfortable, or not seeing her at all.  
At 9.25 Bernie pulled up outside Serena’s house, (not on the drive as she had in her own car), and waited, in the hope that Serena would see the cab and come out to her. Inside Serena had indeed spotted it, but couldn’t tell who was driving, and was loathe to go straight out as her legs felt a little shaky, and she was scared of stumbling if she saw it was Bernie as she was halfway down the drive. She stood on the other side of the front door, trying to regulate her heartbeat, until she realised how foolishly she was acting and decided to just suck it up and go. She opened the door quickly before she could change her mind, just as Bernie was about to knock, and she stumbled forward caught off balance. Serena instinctively put out her hands to catch her and they both blushed furiously as they collided, but Bernie regained her footing fairly quickly and pushed herself away from Serena’s arms.

“Sorry,” they both said in unison, and then stopped, smiling sheepishly at each other. Bernie turned around and walked back to the cab, and Serena followed a few moments later, after locking the front door. There was another slightly awkward moment when Bernie couldn’t decide which door to open for her, but finally chose the front passenger one, and Serena slid into the seat and waited for Bernie to get in.

“So….. you’ve decided on the car then?” Bernie asked as she drove off.  
“Yes. It’ll be good to be less dependent on others.”

Even as she said this, Serena realised it sounded as if she’d be glad not to have to call on Bernie’s  
taxi service and she hurriedly continued.

“Jason is more than a little fed-up about having to take the bus to work. He gets agitated if it’s late, so he’s taken to walking most days as long as the weather is okay. I’ve told you how he doesn’t like his routine changed.”

They both lapsed into silence and Serena hated that her moment of weakness had resulted in things feeling strained between them.  
After a few more minutes, Bernie cleared her throat.

“So, any new plans on how you’ll spend the rest of your enforced leave? Do you think you’ll take a break somewhere?”

“I don’t think so, no. Doesn’t seem right to swan off and enjoy myself, while others are trying to sort out the mess I caused. Also… of course there’s Jason to consider as well.  
I’ll probably ask Hanssen if there’s any way I can still contribute to the hospital without having to set foot in the grounds.”  
Bernie raised an eyebrow.

“And how would you manage that?” she asked.

“Oh, you know, paperwork. Filling in forms for grants, catching up on medical reports, work rotas…. Although he might be a little reluctant to agree to that one.”

Bernie groaned.  
“I can’t believe anyone would choose to do those things. Donna has threatened to shackle me to the desk if I don’t at least make an effort.”

Serena shrugged.  
“It appeals to my need for structure… helps me feel in control I suppose. Surgery comes with no guarantees of a happy outcome, and the business side is a little more predictable. And apart from when I have my hand deep inside another human being, I don’t function too well in a mess!”

They lapsed back into silence, as Bernie desperately tried to put the smutty thought of Serena’s hand being deep inside… and when she pulled onto the forecourt of the car dealers, Bernie was both relieved and disappointed that the journey hadn’t taken longer.

“Would you like me to stay around for a little while?” asked Bernie. “Just in case there’s a problem?”

“Thank you, but no, it’s fine. They only need a couple of signatures and to see some ID. And then hey presto, I’ll be mobile again.”

“Right,” said Bernie, stifling a sigh. “I’ll have to wait until you overindulge again and need a cab. I didn’t think that out very well did I? In helping you get a car quickly, I’ve done myself out of some business!”

Serena turned and smiled at her, but made no move to get out, and Bernie was just about to go around and open the door for her, when she heard her take a deep breath.

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch after our day out. I really had a good time.”

Serena found she couldn’t carry on while she was facing Bernie, so she moved her head to stare out of the windscreen.  
“I felt I had overstepped a line at the end when I…… well, you know, you were there.. I just wanted you to understand how.. how much I valued.. do value your kindness and friendship. I never stopped to think about how awkward it would be.”

“Serena, no, I mean…. You didn’t spoil anything. I’d had a great day too. And I didn’t mind…. that you… but you disappeared so quickly afterwards I thought you were upset and decided to wait for you to contact me. I was trying to give you space, and hoped that you weren’t feeling awkward.”

Bernie shrugged. “We both got it wrong didn’t we?”

They finally looked at each other and Serena rolled her eyes, blushed a little and smiled.

“So we’re good then?”

“Of course,” said Bernie, “ I’d… I’d miss your company if we only met when you needed a cab. Let me know how you get on with the car.”

Serena touched Bernie lightly on her arm.  
“Will do. I promise I’ll be in touch soon.”

Serena got out of the car, and stopped to wave to Bernie as she drove away. Her mind felt a little clearer now that she’d summoned up the courage to speak, but her heart reminded her that the feeling of attraction she had for Bernie was growing.   
Bernie too was relieved that a sort of balance had been restored, and although a part of her ached for there to be more, she squashed it down.   
For the rest of the morning she was busy with flyers, collecting people going to and from the airport, and it wasn’t until she was back in the office staring miserably at her email inbox, that she properly thought about Serena again. She sighed loudly, and Jasmine who was the dispatcher, gave a small laugh.

“What’s so funny?” asked Bernie.

“It just makes me feel happy to know that you’re not perfect,” said Jasmine. “I mean, you’ve been in a war zone, got blown up by an IED, tackled all manner of difficult situations in this job and as a paramedic, but faced with a computer and a growing pile of correspondence and it’s the end of the world!”

“Hrrmph. We all have our weaknesses you know. Like your ability to get lost if you have a fare that takes you more than 3 miles from Holby?”

Jasmine stuck her tongue out.  
“Twice, that’s all… twice! And the second time was because of a diversion that someone had messed around with by moving the signs about, as well you know!”

“Yes, so next time.. switch on your sat-nav, okay?”

Bernie grinned, and felt slightly cheerier as she started opening envelopes.

  
It had only been a few days without a car, but Serena had got quite used to being driven around by Bernie, and the first few minutes of driving again felt like hard work. She smiled to herself as she accustomed herself to the controls, thinking that in spite of the shock of having her car stolen, and the mess that had resulted in her being suspended, she actually regretted very little. Because if none of it had happened she would have had no reason to have crossed paths with Bernie again for quite some time, and that she decided would have been a very great shame. A random thought followed, that she actually had no idea was Bernie was short for, and she decided to ask her the next time she saw her. And the thought that followed that was that she was looking forward to seeing her again, soon.

She decided to pop into the hospital, hoping it wouldn’t cause problems, as she wanted to go and see Arthur, and was prepared to fight Hanssen on this if he tried to have her removed. She had been in touch with Morven and knew that he was comfortable at the moment, but was still too ill to return home, and she didn’t want to regret not having made the effort to visit. She stayed with him for about 2 hours, talking to him, and holding his hand as he drifted in and out of consciousness, and only left when Morven and his mother arrived. She made Morven promise to let her know if any significant changes happened, and as she walked back to her car a few tears fell. She was grateful that she’d had this time with him, and was sadly reminded that the suddenness of Elinor’s death had left a lot of things unsaid between them.

After about an hour back at home, Serena was sitting, twiddling her thumbs. It wasn’t that she didn’t have plenty of things she could be doing, especially in the garden, which was something she loved. But focusing her mind on anything was proving difficult. Truthfully, there was really only one thing she wanted to think about, and that was Bernie. And, more importantly, how to arrange a meeting with her without seeming desperate or a stalker. Nursing her 4th cup of coffee that day she had what she thought might be a cunning plan.

Bernie was finding concentration difficult too, although given what she was supposed to be doing, that wasn’t in its self, unusual. But whenever her mind slipped away from the task in hand, an image of Serena waving to her, as she had driven away that morning, kept popping into her head. She was getting nowhere and had just announced to Jasmine that she was free to take the next fare, when her mobile rang, and her heart skipped when she saw who it was.

“Serena? Please tell me nothing has gone wrong.” Bernie sounded happy and excited, and Jasmine hoped that no calls would come in so that she could listen to the conversation.

“No, no, everything’s fine in the car department. At least it will be as soon as I’ve got used to the way it handles. I.. I just had a thought about what we were discussing this morning, about how I will pass the time, and I wondered if you were planning to go into the office anytime soon?”

“Well, right now as it happens, I’m sitting here wishing I was any place else though… why?”

Serena suddenly felt shy.  
“Well, I…. I still feel I owe you for last week, and here I am, someone with a business brain and time on her hands. I thought… I wondered if you’d like some help to streamline your admin duties, so that you could minimise the amount of time you have to spend there?”

Bernie couldn’t believe her ears.  
“I can’t expect you to do that, Serena. I mean, I know you’re not on holiday, and although this could be the answer to my prayers, you should take the chance to kick back a little… try and relax.”

Serena have a small chuckle.  
“Oh believe me, you’d be doing me a favour. Jason has already drawn up a timetable, so that when he’s off work as well, I can savour the prospect of every Mary Beard documentary known to man, or, as a little light relief, endless episodes of the ‘World’s Strongest Man’. It won’t take much for me to relieve the boredom with copious amounts of Shiraz.”

Bernie burst out laughing, startling Jasmine.  
“So you’re saying I’ll be saving you from spending the rest of your suspension in a drunken stupor?”

“That might be overstating it a little, but yes, that’s the gist of it.”

Bernie checked the time.  
“If you’re positive about this, I was planning on stopping here for another couple of hours, so if you wanted you could come over now….”

Serena gave a little shiver of anticipation as she put her phone down, after getting the address from Bernie. It had been so long since she had made a new friend, someone of her own age. It had been even longer since she had felt a thrill at the thought of seeing them, and she had never felt quite as excited as this, about a woman.  
Bernie had sat back down at her desk, and a quick glance at Jasmine confirmed her suspicions that she had been listening intently to the conversation, as she had a big grin on her face.

“Something amusing you young lady?” Bernie asked, a warning tone in her voice suggesting that she should consider her answer carefully.

Jasmine swallowed and tossed her head, but still could quite remove the smirk on her face.  
“No, not really, I was just a bit puzzled by your change of mind, that’s all. Nothing to do with me though, is it?”

Bernie just gave her a stern look, and then had to turn away to hide the smile on her own face at the thought of Serena coming over, and the helping hand she’d offered. With that in mind she suddenly started to tidy things up a bit, at least, make neater piles of everything, and pulled another chair over to the desk. Maybe wanting Serena to be impressed by her business, could explain why she suddenly dashed out to the bakery just around the corner, returning 5 minutes later with 2 slices of chocolate cake, unable to miss the grin now firmly fixed on Jasmine’s face.

  
It was about 15 minutes later that there was a soft knock at the door, as Serena pushed it open and peered around it looking surprisingly apprehensive. Bernie jumped up from her seat and went over to usher her in, guiding her to her own chair at the desk. She briefly introduced her to Jasmine and then sat down next to her, and for a couple of seconds there was a silence, until Serena focused on the pile of folders and mail in front of her.

“Really Bernie,” she said, sounding a little like a teacher admonishing a pupil for forgetting her homework. “What’s all this? Who is responsible for sorting your post out? Because quite frankly they obviously aren’t doing a very good job!”

Bernie initially looked puzzled, and then flushed with embarrassment.  
“Er.. well, that would be me, I suppose.”

Serena turned to her with an incredulous look on her face.  
“Really? So when you’re not here, people like Jasmine just keep adding everything that comes in to the pile, do they?”

Bernie nodded, miserably. This was not how she’d imagined this would go.  
“I like them to concentrate on the calls coming in, they’re what’s really important.” she said defensively.  
Serena took a deep breath.  
“Of course they are, but you can’t tell me that the phone rings non-stop 24 hours a day. They must get quite bored in between calls. What do they do during a quiet day?”

Bernie shrugged. “Read a book?”

“You shouldn’t be paying them to read a book, Bernie. Not when they could be helping you cope with this….” and Serena waved her hand across the desk.

Bernie was not enjoying this one little bit. She could see what Serena was saying made good sense, but she was starting to feel a little stupid, when her faults were being called out like this. Serena realising that perhaps she had gone a little too far reached out and rested her hand on Bernie’s arm.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so blunt, but looking at all this paper, I can see that at least half of it is just junk mail. That’s stuff that any one of your employees could just throw into the recycling straight away. And if there is a member of staff that you think would benefit from a little more responsibility, put them on a three month trial as an office manager. If at the end of it you’re happy with their performance then give them a small rise, and promise them to review the position in another 12 months. They could learn how to prioritise the rest of the mail, by just sorting it into bills, insurance, car servicing and repairs. Some of course could only be dealt with by you, but things like arranging appointments for health checks for the drivers could easily be handled by someone other than yourself.”  
Serena had lowered her voice and was trying to speak gently, but she knew that Bernie was still feeling uncomfortable. There was a slightly bewildered and crestfallen look on her face, and Serena began to feel bad at how unsubtle she had been.

“Sorry, I’m sorry…. I went into full CEO mode then didn’t I? You can see why some people in the hospital duck out of sight when they see me coming? It’s so easy when you’re standing slightly away from something to see things that you can’t see when you’re in the middle of it.”   
She nudged Bernie with her elbow.  
“You only have to look at me, and remember why I have this time on my hands, to realise that.”

Bernie took a deep breath.  
“I can see what you’re saying, I just hate this part of the job so much, I’ve always thought of it as being the burden I have to shoulder. Didn’t want to make anyone else feel as bad as I do about it. Couldn’t imagine anyone one wanting to take it on!”

There was a small cough from the other side of the room, and they both looked up to see jasmine looking at them.  
“I would, I mean if you’re wondering who to ask… I mean… I don’t mean you should choose me, but I like organising stuff, hate messy things, so you know if you want any help…?”

Bernie looked surprised, and looked at Serena who raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Oh, okay, thank you. I’ll…. I’ll just go over a few more things with Ms Campbell, and then, perhaps we could have a chat, tomorrow?”  
Jasmine blushed and nodded, turning back to the phone as she did, feeling very pleased that she had been on dispatch duty today.

Feeling a little less of a failure Bernie began to discuss with Serena how to organise her business, Serena being quite insistent that she move as much as possible to her business email, so that she could access it easily at home or even on her phone if something appeared in the inbox that the person in the office that day felt needed urgent attention.

“I know that makes it seem as if you can’t get away from it, but doing a little, everyday, means it won’t overwhelm you, and become the bane of your life.”

Just over 2 hours later Bernie was looking a lot less stressed, and the pile of paperwork that had adorned her desk for so long was nearly gone. She and Serena were just sharing a slice of the chocolate cake in celebration (Bernie had given the other slice to Jasmine), and Serena was thinking she needed to get back for Jason, when Bernie’s phone rang. She looked at it it and gave a small, tight smile. She turned to Serena before answering.  
“Give me a minute, will you? Don’t disappear.”  
And she pushed herself up from her chair and went out of the door.

Serena’s eyes tracked her movements, and her gaze remained locked onto the door long after it had closed behind her.

“She’s quite something isn’t she?”  
Serena started at Jasmine’s voice, and she blushed.  
“Sorry?” she said, pretending she didn’t understand, or hadn’t heard.

“Bernie, Ms Wolfe…she’s quite, something. Well, you know what I mean.”

Serena raised an eyebrow in what she hoped was warning sign, hiding the fact that she was panicking inside. It didn’t work, as with a glance at the door, Jasmine scurried over.  
“It’s just the way you look at her, when you don’t think she can see you. I should know, I used to have quite the crush on her myself.”

Serena cleared her throat, but her voice still sounded a bit strained.  
“Used to?”  
It was Jasmine’s turn to colour slightly before nodding.  
“Yes, I mean I still think she’s lovely, but…. I’m with someone now, and very happy. But I’m not wrong am I? You do… like her?”  
Serena sighed.  
“She’s become a good friend, very quickly, and I appreciate her..... I mean that. But more than friendship? No.”  
Serena tried to inject a firmness into her voice that she didn’t feel. Jasmine looked at her sceptically.  
“Okay, but just for the record, she likes you, too.”

But before Serena could respond the door opened and a very frazzled looking Bernie re-entered, huffing and muttering under her breath.  
“Problem?” asked Jasmine.

“Nothing that a paid assassin couldn’t solve,” said Bernie sharply.  
She sat down next to Serena with a deep sigh.  
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve got the energy or the inclination to carry on with this.”

“Of course,” said Serena. “I need to get back myself. If you do want me to interfere again, just give me a call.”  
She stood up and walked towards the door, saying goodbye to Jasmine as she did, and Bernie followed her outside. They stood awkwardly for a moment by Serena’s car, until Bernie thanked her again for all her help and turned to go back.

“Bernie?” said Serena, hesitantly, “I know it’s none of my business, but that phone call has obviously upset you. If you want chat.. just give me a ring.”

Bernie gave her a brief smile and nodded. “Thanks,” she said quietly and then went back to the office. Serena stood there for a split second and sucked her breath in through her teeth, before getting into her car to drive home.

Jason had been particularly irritating this evening, Serena thought. She had sat through not one, but two episodes of The World’s Strongest Man, Jason forcing her to pick in advance which competitor she felt would win each event, and then proceeded to roar with laughter at every choice she made. He then wanted her to watch a documentary on the history of the Aztec Empire, which turned out to be quite possibly the most boring programme she had watched in a long while. He had long since given up trying to interest her in Dr Who, so he’d gone to bed to watch some on his laptop, and Serena was just contemplating a relatively early night, when her phone rang.  
She had a moments panic that it might be to do with Arthur, but found herself feeling just as shaky when she saw the incoming call was from Bernie.

“Bernie? Is everything okay?”

There was a moments silence and then Bernie spoke.  
“Hi Serena…. I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

“Well, you are coming between a woman and the last drops of a very nice Shiraz, but I think that can wait.” Serena bit her lip as she realised how flippant she sounded. “I’m sorry, is there something wrong?”

“Well, not exactly wrong, but you did say….”

“That you could ring if you needed to chat. I remember, but talking over the phone is sometimes difficult, so why don’t you pop over and you can help me finish off the bottle of wine I have here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, any idea how long you’ll be?”

“Oh….. um, about a minute?”

“What! Where are you?”

“Sitting in my car outside your house.”

Serena stood up and moved to the window, where she could see her just getting out of the car.  
“Bernie, you idiot! Come on, I’m just going to open the door.”

She stood in the doorway as Bernie approached, still looking uncertain about the whole thing, dragging her feet slightly.

“I’m sorry about this… are you sure it’s alright?”

Serena pulled her inside and closed the door before pushing her towards the lounge.  
“After all the kindness and support you’ve shown me over the last few weeks? Of course it’s alright… more than alright. Sit down while I get us both a drink. Is wine okay, or would you prefer to stay sober as you’re driving?”

Bernie smiled briefly.  
“I’m sure I can risk one glass thanks. To be honest I could easily walk home from here, if necessary.”

Serena raised an eyebrow at that, but decided that conversation could wait for another time. She soon poured them both a glass and sat down beside her on the sofa.

“Soo, I’m presuming this all has to do with the phone-call this afternoon…. Not bad news I hope?”

Bernie tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling .

“No…. not really. It shouldn’t really be an issue at all. The call was from Marcus’ sister. She’s getting married for the second time in a couple of weeks, and we, well we always got on really well, so a couple of months ago I got an invite to the wedding.”  
Bernie took another deep breath before continuing.  
“I… I decided to accept the invitation as long as she was sure I wouldn’t upset anyone by being there, and she promised me it was fine. Meaning that….. Marcus and his parents hadn’t made any objection. I did think that I was…. kidding myself, but I felt that I needed to do it… prove that we’d all moved on.”  
She drained the glass of wine and as she put it down Serena could see that her hand was visibly shaking.   
“Would you mind… re-filling that?”  
Serena poured another full glass and moved it towards her.

“Today, she rang to let me know that… Marcus is, has been dating someone.. and it seems all of a sudden to be getting serious. And… and…”

“You’re jealous,” said Serena softly.

Bernie turned to look at Serena and nodded.  
“How petty, and… mean-spirited is that?” She was almost sobbing.  
“I mean I almost broke him when I had an affair….. and now I’m pretty much saying ‘I don’t want you, but I don’t want anyone else to want you either!’  
She took another large swig from the glass.

“I’m just a 5 star bitch aren’t I?”

Serena reached out and took the glass out of her hands and put it down on the coffee table and then took Bernie’s hand between her own.

“No, no you’re not! You’re just human, that’s all.”

She gave a wry smile.  
“It’s a different scenario, but I went through a similar experience. When Edward cheated on me I was hurt and bloody furious and point blank refused to give him another chance. Both of us working in the medical field meant that I was always aware of the rumours…. how he was bedding any female who would fall for his lies, and it barely touched me. I could laugh and think how ridiculous it made him.”  
It was Serena’s turn to take a deep breath.  
“But the day I received an invite to his wedding, complete with an envelope full of glitter, I felt.. betrayed all over again, like I’d been punched in the stomach. I mean, I didn’t want him back, but I didn’t want him to love anyone else more than he had loved me.”

Bernie went to say something but Serena carried on.

“And it wasn’t just because I didn’t think he deserved to be happy, or that I was concerned for her…. I finally admitted it was because he’d found someone else to love him! And I’d not even come close, so maybe it was something lacking in me and not his fault after all. I just don’t seem to have what it takes for men to see me as someone they want to commit to.”

Bernie looked at Serena and gently squeezed the hand that was holding hers.  
“Well, they’re just plain fools then,” she murmured.

Serena rested her head against Bernie’s shoulder before she spoke again.  
“It must be a female condition I think, that we’re genetically engineered to think we’re the ones to blame, rather than accept that we all make mistakes and then move on”

“But I _was_  responsible for our marriage falling apart,” said Bernie, tearfully.

“Yes, and I understand that you feel guilty. That’s what makes you so different to Edward. But I don’t believe you set out to have an affair, you weren’t the one that was pursuing someone else, from what you’ve told me it was Alex that made the first move. Let’s just pretend that you’d stopped it after that first kiss, do you honestly think that you could have gone back to Marcus, as if nothing had happened… as if you could have carried on, denying who you really were?”

Bernie stood up and started to walk slowly up and down in the room pushing her fingers through her unruly hair.

“Even if I accept what you have to say, it doesn’t really help me with this dilemma. If I say now that I won’t be going, it makes me look so petty, and as if I wish he was still with me, and I don’t….. I don’t. But I’m not sure I can do the whole I’m really happy for you either, I’m going round in circles. It’s hard Serena.”

“Is there no one you could ask to go with you? A really good friend, someone who would support you through it and that you know would have your back.”

Bernie shook her head.  
“Not really, I don’t encourage friends if I’m honest, I have a pretty bad track record of letting them down, of messing things up.”

She turned to look at Serena and suddenly heard herself asking a question she didn’t even know was in her head.

“I don’t suppose, would you consider….? No, no it’s fine, don’t answer that. That was stupid. I think I’ll get back now, but thank you.. for listening.”  
Bernie headed for the door but Serena was up and following her and caught hold of her arm, just before she managed to open it.

“Come back… please. If you go now we’ll be back to feeling awkward all over again and I really don’t want that to happen.”

Bernie allowed herself to be guided back to the sofa and she sat down and reached for her glass of wine again, while Serena stood watching her.

“Well?” Bernie said. “You wanted me to stay, so presumably you had something to say, or suggest?”

Serena shook herself, as she realised she had just been gazing at Bernie, and not speaking. She sat down too and cleared her throat.

“You didn’t give me time to consider your question…. and the answer is yes, I will come with you, watch your back, give you moral support… however you want to play it. You will be miserable if you don’t go, and who knows, it might help you to feel less guilty if you see him with someone who makes him happy.”

Bernie stared at her, a look of amazement on her face.  
“Are you sure? I feel so bad involving you in all of this.”  
Bernie picked up her glass and drained it, before reaching for the bottle and pouring another glass.

Serena gave her a gentle smile and patted her knee.  
“Are you kidding? There’s nothing I like more than shopping for a new outfit, especially for a wedding. Perfect excuse to splurge a huge amount of cash, and buy a new hat!”

Bernie took another large gulp of wine.  
“Oh god, I’d forgotten about a wedding outfit! But it’s okay, I’m sure I can make do with something from my wardrobe… possibly a new pair of shoes though. And I’m definitely not wearing a hat!”  
And she took another large swig before they both started laughing.

They continued to chat for another 30 minutes or so before Serena looked at her watch and caught sight of the time.  
“Oh good grief, I think it’s high time we finished here. I may not be at work, but I promised Jason he would get a lift in the morning, so I need to get to bed.”

Bernie jumped to her feet.   
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kept you talking.”  
But the combination of 3 or 4 glasses of wine drunk in a small space of time, and standing very quickly caused the room to spin and she swayed dangerously before Serena also stood and caught hold of her.  
They froze for a moment, both of them acutely aware of their bodies pressed closely against each other. Serena spoke first, as she gently pushed Bernie upright to help her keep her balance.

“I think it’s safe to say that you’re not driving anywhere tonight, and I don’t want you walking home at this hour, however close you say you live.”

“But..” Bernie started to protest, but Serena was having none of it.  
“I have a perfectly good spare room that you can use, and I’m sure I can find you something to wear in bed. I assume that you’ll be at work tomorrow too, so I can give you a wake up call when I get up to take Jason to the hospital.”

And despite Bernie still protesting, Serena refused to listen and bundled her upstairs, explaining the routine that Jason had, which meant that Bernie would need to use her en-suite in the morning. If she did need the bathroom during the night, she made her promise not to move anything in there or else she would suffer Jason’s wrath the next day.  
In less than 20 minutes they were both in their respective rooms, but neither of them went to sleep very quickly, as the thought of the other one lying in bed on the other side of a wall had them both feeling flushed and confused.

Serena could scarcely believe it when her alarm went off what seemed like only 2 hours after she had fallen asleep. She pulled herself out of bed, and wrapping her robe around her she padded to Jason’s room to tell him she was just on her way downstairs to make a drink, and to find out if he wanted porridge or pancakes today. With not being at work she had lost track of the days, and therefore which breakfast he would be expecting.  
She then turned towards Elinor’s room, where Bernie was sleeping and felt a little thrill run through her at the prospect of seeing Bernie all sleepy, her hair even more tousled if that was humanly possible. She knocked gently on the door.  
“ Bernie……. Bernie?”   
A muffled voice called back.   
“Come in”

She opened the door slowly and peered round to be greeted with the delectable sight of Bernie struggling to sit up in bed, with the duvet pulled tightly around her, and, Serena gulped, it seemed as if she was naked. The t-shirt she had offered last night was on the floor, and Bernie followed Serena’s eyes as she glanced at it.

“Sorry, I was rather warm during the night, I thought I’d left it on the bed. Must have kicked it off with my tossing and turning.”  
Bernie omitted to say that the reason for her disturbed night, as well as how warm she felt, was standing in the doorway looking adorable with mussed hair and a slightly bewildered air.

“It’s fine,” she croaked, “I just came to tell you that I’m going to make porridge for Jason, and that if you wanted to use the en-suite now, I can come and get dressed afterwards. Just use any of the gels or shampoo if you want to…. I’ll be about 15 mins if that will be enough time?”

“Plenty of time, thanks. I got used to showering in 3 minutes in the army!” She followed this statement with a blinding smile that had Serena feeling weak at the knees.”

“Okay, good,” she managed to say, and turning to go, suddenly added, “it might be best if you popped the shirt back on before you venture onto the landing. That’s a conversation with Jason I’d rather not have at this hour, thank you.”

Bernie snorted with laughter as she nodded in agreement, and Serena returned to the kitchen, holding on tightly to wall and furniture in the hope that she could save herself if her legs gave way.

By the time the porridge was cooked, Bernie was already downstairs and ready to go. Serena offered her breakfast, but Bernie declined, saying that she needed to go home briefly to change, and her shift was due to start at 8.00, so it was best if she got moving.  
Serena walked with her to the door, and Bernie stopped suddenly and turned to face her.

“Thank you so much for what you did yesterday… in the office. I’m sorry if I wasn’t as gracious as I could have been, I guess no one likes to have their faults pointed out. And I really, really appreciate how kind you were last night. I’ve not shared that much with anyone for a long time, so thank you ….. if you want to change your mind about anything, then just let me know, I won’t be upset.”  
‘Well that’s a lie,’ she thought to herself, and jumped as she felt Serena take her hand and squeeze it gently.

“I won’t change my mind, but I do need you to text me the date and time, so that I can make other arrangements for Jason.”

Bernie nodded. “Where is Jason by the way?”

Serena looked at her watch and almost squealed.  
“Oh lord, he’s sitting in his bedroom I imagine, waiting for me to tell him breakfast is ready! Sorry I’ll have to go,” and with another small press of her hand she ran upstairs leaving Bernie to let herself out.

Bernie did as Serena requested and sent her a text about the date and time of the wedding. She did give her the option to bow out again, but Serena was adamant that she would be there to support her, for which Bernie was immensely grateful. She also arranged for one of her cabs to take and fetch them back, so they could both have a drink. Bernie was certain she would probably need a few stiff whiskeys to get her through the day, even with Serena’s help. She found a dress at the back of her wardrobe that she was fairly sure Marcus had never seen, and had bought a pair of black patent ballet pumps to go with it. It probably wasn’t your typical wedding outfit, but she was never comfortable wearing flowery or too formal clothes, so it would have to do. She knew Serena had been shopping on at least 3 occasions, but she hadn’t divulged what she had bought. Bernie was certain she would look wonderful whatever she wore, and she kept reminding herself that she needed to keep her hands (and eyes) to herself, if she didn’t want to end up embarrassing them both.  
On the morning of the wedding they were both feeling anxious, and not just for the reasons that Bernie had spoken of when Serena had offered her support. They were both, individually , concerned that the other might see the the feelings that were hovering just beneath the surface of their friendship.  
Jasmine was driving them to the venue, had in fact offered her services to be their chauffeur for the day, and Bernie had trusted her to drive her own car as she didn’t want to stand out by arriving in one of her cabs. They arrived at Serena’s house about 40 minutes before the service was due to start, and she walked nervously up to the front door, trying to wipe her already sweaty palms on her dress.  
Before she had chance to knock on the door, it opened and Serena stood there, her mouth dropping open slightly as she took in the sight of Bernie in a silvery grey floaty dress, the hem being slightly higher at the front, dropping to mid calf length at the back, sleeveless, and the top half swept up to a little mandarin collar. It emphasised just how slim she was and yet the fabric clung in all the right places, leaving no doubt that there were hidden curves.  
“Wow,” she finally managed to say, “no wonder Marcus was reluctant to give you up….. you look amazing.”  
Bernie’s cheeks turned pink and she blinked a couple of times before murmuring in a low voice,  
“As do you.”  
And she did, in fact stunning and sexy were the two words that came to the tip of Bernies tongue. She was wearing a 1950’s style cocktail dress with a nipped in waist and flared skirt that ended just below the knee…. but the highlight was the sweetheart neckline that showed off her marvellous bosom, accentuating a cleavage that Bernie was in danger of falling heard first into, feeling decidedly off balance. She dragged her eyes back up to Serena’s face that was wearing a very bemused smile, and flushed all over again. She took a deep breath.

“You ready to go?” she asked, and turned towards the car as Serena closed the door behind her. When she saw the back of Bernie’s dress, she found she had trouble swallowing as it plunged to almost her waist, exposing an expanse of ivory skin, that clearly indicated that she wasn’t wearing a bra. It wasn’t until Bernie’s voice cut through the fog in her brain, asking if she was alright, did she realise that she hadn’t moved more than 2 paces down the drive, and was standing stock still.  
It was Serena’s turn to blush as she forced herself to take wobbly steps to the car where Bernie was holding the door open for her. She thankfully slid into her seat and stared straight ahead as Bernie did the same and Jasmine pulled away, looking into the rear view mirror, and smiling as she took in the tension between them.  
“Well, I don’t fancy the chances of any singletons at this wedding, with you two foxy ladies on the prowl,” she said teasingly.  
Bernie met her eyes through the mirror and glowered.  
“Just drive!”

About 30 minutes later they pulled up outside Moreton Hall where the ceremony, reception and evening party was to take place. They had both had chance to compose themselves a little, and after getting out of the car, Bernie told Jasmine that she would ring her when they were ready to leave. Jasmine winked and drove off with the sound of the tyres spinning on the gravel driveway and Bernie groaned.  
“Please, please let her keep her head. I’m beginning to wonder if letting her have the use of my car for the day was such a good idea!”

Serena patted her arm, “She’ll be fine, just showing off in front of the boss a little.”  
Bernie raised her eyebrows in disbelief, but let it go.

As they headed for the imposing entrance, Serena stopped again and cleared her throat.  
“Look, before we go in, I just wanted to make something clear? I.. I want to support you all I can today, and I’ve definitely got your back… but I don’t want to make it seem as if we’re a couple. I think that would cause more problems further down the line… is that okay?”

Bernie nodded immediately.  
“Definitely!” she said firmly. “My life does not need any more complications.”  
And smiling at each other they carried on into the building.

They were ushered into the room where the wedding was taking place, when Serena froze again, and then jerked Bernie to one side, out of the line of people taking their seats. Bernie looked at her bewildered as Serena hissed.

“Edward and the embryo! Over there!”

“What?” stuttered Bernie, “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am! What the hell are they doing here?”

Then a thought crossed her mind.

“Your husband… Marcus… he’s Marcus Dunn isn’t he?”

Bernie nodded, still not understanding

“Edward works with him at St James’s.”

“But I don’t get it. Why didn’t you make the connection before?”

Serena rolled her eyes.  
“Because you never told me that you didn’t take Marcus’s name when you married, and you know me, I apparently am incapable of spotting the bloody obvious.”

Bernie looked concerned.  
“I’m so sorry, shall I ring Jasmine and ask her to come and get you? I’ll manage okay if you’d rather go?”

Serena’s eyes twinkled.  
“It’s fine,” she said. “It was just a bit of a shock. In fact I think I’m rather going to enjoy this.”   
And grabbing hold of Bernie’s hand she pushed back into the line threw her head back and laughed.

 

 


	3. Final Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a lot of angst, they get their act together...... you always knew they would!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s taken longer that usual, (and sorry that I always say that!)  
> I’ve struggled to keep it to just 3 chapters, and as you will see, I have cheated a bit.

Chapter 3 : Final Journey

  
They shuffled into seats 3 rows behind Edward and Liberty, and Bernie was a little more apprehensive than previously (if that were possible) about how this whole afternoon would now pan out. The discovery that Serena’s ex was here had just thrown another spanner into what was already an unstable mix. She had spotted Marcus, at the very front, standing chatting to his parents, Maureen and Alan. There was a woman sitting in a seat close to him, but the only thing Bernie could make out was that her hair was short and blonde. She took a deep breath, keeping her fingers crossed that everything would go without a hitch, already trying to formulate what period of time would have to pass before they could both bow out gracefully and go home.  
Serena was also feeling slightly off balance with the shock of seeing Edward. It definitely wasn’t because she had any ‘feelings’ for him, or that it bothered her to see him with his young wife. She had come to accept that Liberty probably handled his wandering eye a lot better than she had ever done. She’d been married and pregnant before she realised that Edward needed her to put him first in everything, and she was never prepared to stoke his ego to that extent.

But, when Elinor died, they had reconnected for a short while, each acknowledging the grief of the other. He had sat with her when she had finally found the strength to sort through her room, both of them crying together as memories overtook them.

She mentally shook herself, this was not an occasion for dwelling on the past.   
One thing she was certain of however, was that he would look at her pityingly when he saw her here… without a man by her side. She felt a spark of devilment grow within her as she imagined his face if she introduced Bernie as her girlfriend, her words about ‘no pretend relationship’ to Bernie already receding into the back of her mind. And anyway, she reasoned, it wouldn’t be a fake relationship if she were only brave enough.

The ceremony lasted about 20 minutes, and was quite sweet Bernie thought. Not really her cup of tea, but it suited Olivia, and her now husband Charles, down to the ground. As the same room was to be used for the reception, everyone was asked to leave the room, and go through the multiple French windows and onto the lawn, where there was a large marquee set up with plenty of champagne and nibbles, and the chance to congratulate the happy couple. As they sauntered outside Serena turned to Bernie and asked her the question that she had long pondered over herself.

“If the right person happened along, would you want to get married again?”

Bernie stared at her blankly for a moment, and then shrugged.

“I can’t imagine it, no. But then, I’m not sure who’d want to come anyway. Not many of my own family would want to celebrate a same sex marriage, I don’t think.”

She allowed herself to think about it for a little longer. Closed her eyes and thought about Serena standing next to her promising to love her for the rest of their lives, and she felt a familiar warmth spread through her her body. As she opened her eyes she found Serena gazing at her intently and her face flushed.

“I…. I suppose it _is_ possible…… with the right person…”

Her voice sounded thick, and she could have sworn she heard Serena’s breathing hitch, and her eyes darkened momentarily.

“What… what about you?”  
Serena shrugged, pretending that it was something she’d not thought about before.

“Not sure… bit like you really. It would certainly take someone very special to get me to the altar again.”

They had reached the marquee, and the first person they saw was Marcus bearing down on them, wearing what Serena considered to be a very fake smile. He pulled Bernie towards him in a brief hug.

“Bernie, so glad you could come. You look very good, as always, although it’s certainly been a long time since I’ve seen you in a dress. You should wear one more often.”

Bernie paled slightly and ducked her head to avoid meeting his eyes.

“Thank you,” she muttered. “You look well too.” She gave him a wry smile. “Happier…”

He nodded. “ I am….. at last! Took a long time though. You get a lot of ribbing from friends when your wife leaves you – because she suddenly decides she’s a lesbian.”

There was quite a bite in his tone despite the smile on his face, and Bernie winced, which caused a flash of anger in Serena.  
 _‘How dare he make this woman feel anymore guilty than she already does!’_ she thought, and was about to introduce herself, when Marcus called out to the woman Bernie had seen sitting next to him during the wedding.

“Vanessa, darling,” and the woman with the short blonde hair turned and walked over.

Serena felt Bernie tense and saw the huge effort she was putting into keeping a smile on her face.  
Vanessa too, looked a little strained, but she said hello politely enough as Marcus introduced her, allowing him to curl his arm around her waist, pulling her to his side. Marcus was watching Bernie’s face intently, hoping for some reaction, but she managed to keep her face blank, devoid of any emotion.

  
Serena supposed that Vanessa was about 10 years younger than themselves and wondered (for the umpteenth time) why middle-aged men always seemed to need the attention of a younger female.

Looking at Bernie, she thought that a younger woman couldn’t compete with her, in her opinion. 

She could see that Bernie was still struggling to do anything more than smile, and when Marcus planted a kiss onto Vanessa’s head and announced that ‘ _they might be next_ ’, Serena saw her shoulders drop and her heart ached for her.  
She placed her hand against the small of her back, to remind her that she was there for her, but hadn’t been prepared for the tingle in her fingers as they touched bare skin. She was sure Bernie felt it too as she arched slightly towards her as she turned, a soft smile on her face.

  
“Oh, I’m sorry, Marcus this is my very good friend, Serena. You may have heard of her, she’s a vascular surgeon at Holby, as well as the Deputy CEO.”

Marcus frowned for a second, and then his face cleared as he realised who she was.

“Serena… Campbell is it? Of course I’ve heard of you… I’m quite pally with your ex you know, in fact the whole family is!”

As the attention shifted from her, Bernie relaxed slightly, and with a nod at Serena she indicated she was off to congratulate the happy couple. Serena stayed, as Marcus was still speaking.

“Were you aware that Edward is here too?” he asked.

“Oh yes,” said Serena in clipped tones. “No mistaking him and…… Liberty!”

Marcus leaned in towards her, an unpleasant sneer on his face.

“It has to be a bit of a shock, when the man you married trades you in for a much younger, slimmer model?”

Serena’s eyes narrowed, dangerously.

“On the contrary, she’s more than welcome to him.”

She looked at Vanessa as she spoke, who had the grace to look embarrassed.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Serena was the one leaning into Marcus’s personal space now.  
“ I think you’re forgetting that it was myself and Bernie who decided we no longer either wanted or needed our husbands…. we dumped you!”

She took a deep breath then, and overstepped the mark she’d said she wouldn’t.

“And I can only speak for myself, but I think you’ll have to admit, I certainly got the first prize.”  
She nodded her head towards Bernie, raising her eyebrows and licking her lips as she walked away, leaving Marcus with his mouth hanging open in shock.

She headed off towards Bernie, and had almost reached her when her path was suddenly blocked by Edward.

“Serena, fancy seeing you here! I didn’t know you knew Olivia?”

“I don’t,” she snapped, and tried to sidestep him, but Edward anticipated her action and moved with her. He put his hand onto her arm and lowered his voice.

“Don’t rush off Rena, I want to know how you’re managing. Are you alright?”

Serena sighed, trying to believe that he really was concerned about her, but hating the pitying tone he was using. She glanced at Bernie who was looking in her direction, aware of who she was talking to, and Serena gave her a tight smile that spoke volumes.

  
Turning her eyes back to Edward, she made a huge effort to soften her voice before replying.

“I’m not too bad thank you Edward. Keeping busy helps.”

  
She pulled her arm out of his grasp and forced herself to ask how Liberty was.

“Good, good, well, in fact, it’s early days...... but she wants to try for a baby! Exciting, eh?”

At his words Serena felt a white hot blaze of anger consume her and her hands clenched by her sides and tears pricked at her eyes. Before she could respond, and she was so incensed she wasn’t even sure she could, she felt Bernie’s hand rest lightly on her shoulder. And at her touch the hard knot that had formed in her stomach slowly began to unravel.

“Serena? Would you like to introduce us?” Bernie asked gently.  
She turned slightly and gave her a grateful smile.

“This is Edward… my ex. And Edward, this is Bernie Wolfe……. Marcus’s ex. I am Bernie’s guest today.”

Edward’s eyes widened and a smirk spread over his face, which told Serena that he was well aware of the reason for Bernie’s divorce.

“Oh, Serena, are you having some sort of mid-life crisis? Can’t find a man to take you on, so you thought you’d try batting for the other team?”

Bernie’s hand on her shoulder tightened, and Serena’s voice took on the icy tone that Bernie remembered her using on the night she first met her.

“You’re hardly the one to be talking about mid-life crises” she said, pointedly looking in Liberty’s direction.  
“Perhaps your child bride would like to hear how you left me, during a difficult labour, to go into work. And what little, if any support you gave me in the days and weeks after giving birth, preferring to go out with your mates to ‘wet the baby’s head’ at every opportunity.”

She leaned forward so that she could lower her voice, her face showing the contempt she had for him.  
“But, I dare say she’ll find out for herself what a welcome relief it was to have you passed out, drunk, giving me the time to focus on the only person I truly loved then… our beautiful daughter!”

There was a choked sob in her voice, and Bernie dropped her hand instinctively and felt for Serena’s, their fingers entwining.

During the whole time she had been speaking Edward hadn’t had the manners to even pretend to look at her face, but had kept his eyes transfixed onto the swell of her chest, and Serena gave a harsh laugh.

“You always were a boob man Edward. I’m glad to see that these ‘puppies’ haven’t lost their appeal for you. Feast your eyes on them as much as you like…. Just remember that it’s someone far more worthy who gets to enjoy them now.”

Serena looked at Bernie with an impish grin and a wink, which made Bernie blush, as Edward, looking very uncomfortable walked away without further comment.

Serena turned and spoke to Bernie, her words tumbling out in a rush.  
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I just wanted to get back at him for hurting me, and not even realising he’d done it, I didn’t mean to embarrass you, please say it’s alright…”

“It’s okay,” said Bernie, recovering her composure. “I heard what he said… he’s despicable...... I understand. You could help me out now, though, if you didn’t mind. I need to speak to Marcus and Olivia’s parents, and I could with some back-up?”

Serena nodded, eager to make up for her display with Edward, and followed Bernie to the other side of the marquee where her ex in-laws were chatting to some friends. As they got closer, Maureen, the mother called out, her voice carrying across the tent.  
“Berenice. How kind of you to come. I hope you’re keeping well?”

Bernie nodded, not enjoying the being the focus of attention as Maureen’s voice had alerted a number of people to her presence. Serena meanwhile was still coming to terms with hearing Bernie’s full name, so nearly missed what was said next.

“Marcus said he’d spoken to you. He’s doing so well now, and we all think Vanessa is delightful. She’s fitted right in with our family and friends. I trust your little taxi service is ticking over?”

Serena was getting annoyed with this woman, who was giving an impression of being nice to Bernie, but there was no warmth in her voice or eyes.

‘ _Alright’ she thought, ‘there is no law saying you have to like your ex-daughter-in-law, so why pretend to all and sundry that you do? You know exactly what you’re doing to her, and it’s very spiteful.’_

Serena watched as Bernie blustered her way through a polite reply, and she could see how uncomfortable she was, wanted to reassure her. She slid her hand around Bernie’s waist and pulled her ever so slightly towards her, causing her to falter over her words, as Serena reached across to shake Maureen’s hand.

“Hello, I’m Serena Campbell and I’m a vascular surgeon at Holby City Hospital, so of course, I have heard of your son, although our paths have never crossed. I probably mix more with the CEO and board members of St James’s, rather than the general surgeons.”

Maureen looked quite taken aback, and the implication that this woman operated in the world of medicine at a higher level than her son, forced her lips into a thin line.

Meanwhile Serena continued.  
“This is certainly a beautiful setting, isn’t it? I’m very pleased I’ve had the chance to share the day with you, thanks to this lovely lady here, who invited me as her plus one.”

Bernie was staring at her in amazement as Serena worked her charm, making cutting remarks followed by perfectly innocent ones and she could see that Marcus’s parents were left feeling slightly bewildered.

“Oh, and Bernie is far too modest to say, but her ‘little Taxi service’ is thriving. For most of the staff at Holby it’s the only one we use. Lovely meeting you, but now I want a little alone time with my ‘friend’.”  
And treating them to a conspiratorial wink she steered Bernie away, to a less populated part of the marquee.

The apologies once again came tumbling out of her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t stand the way they were treating you in front of their friends. I’m pretty sure now that the only reason they and Marcus agreed to your invitation was to show you how much you lost when you divorced him”

Serena had removed her arm from around Bernie, but their hands had found each other, their fingers loosely intertwined.  
Bernie grimaced.

“Don’t I know it. I feel like I’m being paraded around like some poor relative so that they can show how benevolent they are.”  
She tightened her grip on Serena’s hand.   
“How soon before we can leave do you think?”

Serena looked at her gently and sighed.  
“If we go now, it will look as if we’re defeated, running off with our tails between our legs. I think we should at least get to feed our faces before we go, and drink some of their most expensive alcohol. I think it’s fair to say that your ex-in-laws like to put on a good show.”

As if on cue the MC appeared to announce that the meal was ready to be served in the main house. They all paraded back in to find the room where the ceremony had been held, was now set up with tables for dinner. Bernie was relieved to see that she and Serena were on the same table, but disappointed that they were not seated together. This did not faze Serena in the least, and she gently persuaded the elderly gentleman on Bernie’s right, that he would have a lot more fun if he swapped places with her, which found him sitting next to a very attractive twenty something. She did not look as happy as he did, and spent the first five minutes after the exchange, glaring at Serena.  
Bernie could only watch in awe as Serena chatted effortlessly, or so it seemed, to all and sundry, occasionally patting Bernie’s thigh when she was acknowledging whose guest she was. An action that was making Bernie more and more …… aroused.

She tapped Serena on the shoulder and indicated she was heading to the restroom and once there she leant forwards over the basin to run some cold water over the pulse points on her wrists in the hoping of cooling herself down. She stayed there a lot longer than she’d planned and suddenly realised Serena would be wondering if anything was wrong, so she took a deep breath and returned to the room, only to find that all the tables had been relocated to the sides, clearing a dance area. She scanned the room looking for Serena and it didn’t take long to spot her, she was so beautiful, ‘even glowing’ Bernie thought, feeling envious of the apparent ease she had when talking to people she’d never met before. She couldn’t take her eyes off her and she jumped when Vanessa, standing just behind her, spoke.

“She’s got everyone eating out her hand, hasn’t she? Even my mother, which as you know is nigh impossible! Bernie, thanks for coming, I know it hasn’t been easy for you.”

Bernie just smiled and nodded, but found her eyes still tracking Serena’s every move.  
Vanessa smiled as she watched her.  
“I hope you’ll find the happiness you deserve soon,” she said looking pointedly at Serena and then Bernie.

“What? Oh, no no, we’re not….. we’re just good friends,” said Bernie, blushing furiously.

“Say that often enough, and you might just start to believe it. But in my opinion that would be a terrible shame… for both of you. You should see the looks she’s been giving you all afternoon. Sometimes it’s worth taking that first step.”

Bernie bit her lip, but could think of no reply and with a pat to her shoulder, Vanessa moved away. Serena looked up at that moment and met Bernie’s gaze and smiled, and then set about weaving in and out of people to get to her. Panic flared in Bernie’s chest and she half-turned to see if she could slip away unnoticed, but suddenly she felt a hand on her arm, and from the tingles she was feeling it could only be Serena.

“You alright?” she asked gently. “You look a little spooked. Vanessa wasn’t being horrible as well was she?”

“Um… no, no, she wasn’t. She was being quite nice actually.”

“Maybe you need another drink, you still seem so tense.”  
Serena brushed her hand up and down Bernie’s arm to try and soothe her.  
Bernie twisted to the side to move herself out of reach of Serena’s hand, and Serena recoiled as if she’d been slapped.

“Bernie? I haven’t done anything to upset you have I? Are you angry with me because of the way I’ve behaved?”

Bernie shook her head and sighed.

“No, no, you haven’t….. you’ve been…. marvellous.. the way you’ve handled everything, everyone! Even an obnoxious ex-husband.”   
And Bernie risked glancing in her direction from underneath her fringe, a look that made Serena’s heart melt.  
“It’s me, I’m tired and I’d like to go home. It surely can’t be considered bad manners if we left now, could it?”

Serena knew that Bernie was still uncomfortable and ill at ease and so she nodded.

“Of course not,” she said. “Why don’t you go and give Jasmine a ring, and then we can say our goodbyes together.”

Bernie smiled in relief, feeling lighter than she had all day. She walked out onto the balcony to make the call. Serena couldn’t take her eyes off her, the sight of her willowy silhouette against the darkening sky causing a visceral feeling in her stomach, and she sighed deeply, with a long felt want.

“She takes your breath away sometimes doesn’t she? And the annoying thing is she can’t see the effect she has on others..”  
Serena span around at those words to come face to face with Marcus Dunn, and the glint in her eyes made him raise his hands in mock surrender.

“Hey, I’m not trying to put her…. or you down. I get it, that feeling, I really do. But I should warn you, falling for Berenice Bloody Wolfe is a tricky business, given her insecurities. But, I guess you stand a better chance than me….. right sex for one thing!”

Serena drew back and for a moment was speechless. But not for long.

“Insecurities? And who fuelled those do you think? You! And most of your bloody family and friends! She never deliberately set out to hurt you, but that’s all you’ve ever wanted to do to her since she dared recognise what was lacking in your relationship, and to be true to herself in spite of the condemnation that brought about. If I never see you again it will be too soon.”  
And Serena turned her back on him.

Marcus leaned in close to her ear.  
“Oh my, you’ve really got it bad haven’t you? I wish you luck Ms Campbell!”

Serena’s heart was pounding in her chest, and when she finally brought her focus back to the room, Bernie was walking towards her.

“Jasmine said she’ll be about 45 minutes, there’s been an accident on the ring road, and traffic is down to one lane. Are you okay?” said Bernie, noticing her flushed face and the rapid rise and fall of her chest.   
_(Oh god, that chest!_ )

“I’m fine,” lied Serena, “shall we make our apologies and wait on the drive? It’s rather warm in here… oh and I’ve already said our goodbyes to Marcus, so that’s one out of the way!”

Bernie nodded, still puzzled by Serena’s demeanour, but happy to do a quick tour of the room, spending a few moments to congratulate the happy couple again and Vanessa gave her a conspiratorial wink as they turned away.  
They went onto the balcony and down the stone steps to the drive, relishing the coolness of the air.  
Serena leant against the stone wall when they reached the bottom of the steps and gazed up at the clear night sky, able to see far more stars with the absence of light pollution, and as her eyes adjusted to the growing darkness. She brushed her hand against the back of Bernie’s and was rewarded as Bernie allowed their fingers to interlock.  
She too, was looking up at the stars, because she knew if she looked at the beautiful woman at her side, she would not be able to resist the desire she had burning inside, to kiss her.

“So, Berenice,” said Serena, teasingly. “Do you have any idea why you were called that? Or what it means?”

Bernie gave a genuine laugh.  
“Oh yes, that! Um… I’m not really sure why they chose it, although my father being a military man probably did like the meaning, which is ‘one who brings victory’. What about you….. Serena is not exactly a common name either, is it?”

Now it was Serena’s turn to laugh.  
“Ah, well, I think it was more to do with wishful thinking on my mother’s behalf really. It’s meaning is fairly obvious, ‘tranquil or serene’, but I didn’t live up to my name, certainly pushed the boundaries from the day I was born. Very demanding baby, and a very trying teen. Most of my mother’s grey hairs emanated from when I turned 12. When I decided that I was going to be a doctor, I calmed down for a while, concentrating on getting the grades I needed, but soon reverted to type during medical school. Work hard, play hard was my motto for a good 5 years. And if I’m honest, hasn’t changed much.”

“Any other names?”

“A fairly bog standard, Wendy… popular at the time I think. What about you?”

Bernie groaned and closed her eyes in seeming despair.

“Brace yourself…. it’s Griselda.”

Serena pushed herself away from the wall and turned to look at her.

“You’re kidding me?! Good god Bernie, they certainly wanted you to develop a thick skin didn’t they?”

“Pity it didn’t work. My wedding vows were torture….” and Bernie really laughed then, emitting a braying sort of gasp which startled Serena at first, but which soon had her joining in unable to stop herself. It finished with them leaning against each other, and when Serena opened her eyes it was to see Bernie looking at her with such intensity that Serena felt as if she were falling.

“Serena..” Bernie whispered, merely millimetres apart, and suddenly Serena moved upwards, their lips brushing together for a moment, their foreheads touching. They stilled, although their breathing was ragged and then Bernie enveloped Serena’s lower lip with her two, pulling and sucking at it gently before releasing it, close enough still, for their breath to be mingling, but caught in the moment, not wanting to break the spell by taking it any further.

It was then that they heard the crunch of tyres on gravel, and turning her head, Bernie saw her car approaching. Holding Serena’s hand she moved away and walked slowly towards the vehicle, her whole body feeling as if she was moving through air as thick as molasses, as if the universe was trying to keep them in that place. Serena was following, equally as slowly, equally as removed from reality. When they were both in the car and Jasmine turned to ask if she was dropping Serena off first, it was if a bubble in time had been burst and they both flinched as the present came rushing back.

  
Bernie cleared her throat nervously, not sure if speech was even possible, but when she finally spoke she was amazed at how normal her voice sounded.

“Yes please Jasmine. I’ve not had much to drink, so I could drop you home afterwards.”

“No need,” said Jasmine brightly. “My Colin is on his way to yours as we speak.”

The journey to her home seemed both endless, and gone in a flash as far as Serena was concerned. She wished that the car wasn’t quite so wide so that their bodies were nearly touching, maybe even close enough to risk resting her head on her shoulder. As it was she had to be content with their hands occasionally touching as they turned corners a little too fast, their fingers lightly stroking for a moment before parting again as they regained their balance.  
Before the car had come to a complete halt outside the house, Bernie had unbuckled herself, and was out of the car the second it stopped moving, going round to open Serena’s door, holding her hand out to assist her.

They hadn’t spoken a word to each other on the journey home, and Serena hadn’t spoken at all, her normal confidence seemed to have evaporated into the air surrounding them. They walked, hand in hand to the front door, and as Serena fitted the key into the lock she felt Bernie move closer and she turned to stroke Bernie’s cheek before briefly pressing their lips together. She moved her head back so that she could look into Bernie’s eyes, and whispered, “Stay?”

The rush of emotion that hit Bernie with that one word was so overwhelming that she had to put a hand out against the wall to steady herself. She tried to find it in within her to be brave, as brave as Serena had been in asking, but she failed and shook her head regretfully.

“I can’t… not now….. not with the whole of today….. not with Jason…” she left the sentence unfinished hoping thar Serena would understand…. that what she was feeling was too raw for her to deal with right now.

Tears welled up in Serena’s eyes, but she nodded, and with one more breathless touch of her lips, Bernie pushed away and walked down the drive and climbed into the car. Jasmine began to say something, but Bernie overrode her and barked out “Drive!” causing Jasmine’s words to die in her throat.

Serena stood leaning against the door in her hall, her legs shaking and her heart beating so fast she thought she might pass out. She moved carefully to the foot of the stairs and sat down, feeling nauseous and anxious about the reasons as to why Bernie had left. She groaned, wondering if she’d scared her off, implying in that single word that all she’d wanted was to get her into her bed.

‘ _Which I do’ she thought, ‘desperately. But I meant so much more than that… to talk, to just **be** with her’ _  
Another groan escaped from her lips, and moments later Jason’s head appeared at the top of the stairs above her.

“Are you alright Auntie? Or have you drunk too much again? Should I get you a sick bucket?”

Serena took a breath and forced a smile on her face before she turned around to face him.

“No Jason love, I’m okay. Just tired and… yes, maybe I have drunk a little too much, but I’m not going to be sick, I promise. You go back to bed, I’ll be fine. I’m coming up myself now.”

Jason said goodnight and disappeared back into his room. After pouring herself a large glass of cold water Serena switched off the lights and climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Thirty minutes later she was lying in bed, tears still pricking at her eyelids. She knew without a doubt that Bernie had feelings for her, and she could no longer pretend that she didn’t need any more than friendship from her. She swallowed and moaned quietly. She wanted Bernie, and the desire that she’d quashed over a week ago was back with a vengeance. She sat up in bed and switched on her bedside lamp, and spent minutes trying to order her thoughts, wishing she’d taken up yoga as someone had suggested after Elinor died, so that she could centre herself. One thing she knew for certain was that she had to talk to Bernie tomorrow, or today, she amended after glancing at her clock. She owed it to herself and Bernie to acknowledge that she was falling in love, and would have to hope and pray that the admission would not send Bernie running for the hills. She reached for her phone to send her a message before she lost her nerve.

At that moment there was a noise from somewhere downstairs, and Serena had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she she couldn’t quite determine what it was that she’d heard, or even if it was outside or inside. She slid quietly out of bed to peer out of the window but could see nothing or no one. With her heart in her mouth she left her bedroom and quietly descended the stairs, not switching on the light for fear of disturbing Jason, and clutching her phone with the 999 number already keyed in she moved into the hall.

She was relieved to see that it was still secure and tiptoed into the front lounge to check in there, but there was no sign of any disturbance. A quick check in the kitchen also showed nothing unusual and as she walked back into the hall she deleted the emergency number, not wanting to press it by mistake. She stood for a moment to take a calming breath (and there had been plenty of those over the last 12 hours), when there was a small thud against the front door, followed by an unmistakable sigh.  
Grabbing her keys Serena quickly unlocked the door, gasping as Bernie fell backwards into the hall, from where she had been sitting on the step.

“Shit… I’m sorry! Shit… shit, I’m going, it’s okay.”

Bernie was babbling, trying to regain her footing as Serena bent down to help her to her feet, shushing her as she did. She pulled her fully into the house, and closed the door behind her, and then pushed a shaky Bernie into the lounge, switching on a light as she did, then whirled round to confront her.

“Christ, Bernie! What were you doing, apart from giving me a heart attack!”

Bernie was looking as startled as Serena, and took a few moments to reply.

“I don’t know…. I’m sorry I wasn’t really thinking.”

“Clearly” said Serena, her heart still hammering in her chest. She looked at Bernie and seeing how agitated she was, she steered her gently towards a chair so she could sit, before she collapsed.

She sat on the sofa and waited to see if Bernie could calm herself enough to speak. After a couple of minutes she stared down at her feet, unable to look Serena in the eye as she spoke.

“ I couldn’t sleep.. so I thought I’d go for a quick run, but I couldn’t find the energy… I hadn’t really eaten for most of the day. So I walked, not looking where I was headed, lots.. lots of things to think about,” and here she risked a quick glance at Serena who had to bite back a retort.

“I ‘came to’ outside your house and without thinking found myself walking up to your door. I could see a light upstairs and lifted the letterbox to… I don’t know… call your name? But then I worried the light was in Jason’s room, and I didn’t want to scare him….. so I just sat on the step… and the rest you know.”

She risked a second glance and was relieved to see that Serena’s expression had softened slightly

“So you didn’t want to scare Jason, but obviously you didn’t mind frightening me to death, eh?”

Serena patted the space next to her on the sofa.  
“Come here,” she said “you weren’t the only one having trouble sleeping you know.”

Bernie moved across from the chair and sat stiffly by her side.

“Why on earth do you think I asked you to stay?” she said reproachfully. “We needed to talk things through, however tired we both felt.”

“I couldn’t….. I felt so confused… and scared.” admitted Bernie.

“Me too, but.. but we can’t ignore it…. this attraction, between us. Can we? Or is that what you want? To pretend it’s nothing, to just be friends?”

Serena’s voice sounded wobbly to her ears, realising too late that she had given Bernie an option to walk away from her.  
Bernie shook her head, but struggled to say anything else, and Serena knew she would have to be the one to try and navigate them through the next few minutes, and hoped at some point that Bernie would join the conversation. She reached for Bernie’s hand and rested it in her lap.

“We’re getting good at this hand holding business at least, but we do it rather than vocalise what we need to say. In my defence, I’ve never felt like this about a woman before, but it’s really no excuse. If you were a man I’d have shown you in any number of ways that I was interested in you.  
I like you Bernie…. I more than _like_ you, but I didn’t want to push you, didn’t want to lose what we already had.”  
She took another deep breath, aware that Bernie’s eyes were now fixed on her face rather than the floor, but didn’t want to meet her gaze until she finished what she had to say.

“But I don’t think I can settle for that any more. I don’t want this to be all we have. I want to kiss you properly, I want to know whether you feel the same.”

Before she could say anything else, Bernie moved so fast she was almost a blur in Serena’s eyes, and before she could do anything, Bernie’s lips were pressing against her own, her arm encircling Serena’s shoulders pulling her close, so close. Serena’s arm wrapped around Bernie’s waist and she heard Bernie whimper as her tongue pushed its way into Bernie’s mouth tasting and touching and..

“Serena,” panted Bernie, “wait… wait a minute.”

“Sorry,” said Serena, suddenly acutely aware that she was only wearing a silky thin nightgown, but she didn’t look sorry. The smile on her face would have outshone the sun.

Bernie also smiling, merely managed to look shy as she rested her forehead against Serena’s.

“Don’t be,” she said breathlessly. “I’ve wanted to do that for ages.”

Bernie pushed Serena against the sofa back and started to pepper her face with little kisses, occasionally pressing their lips together, sucking on her lower lip, nibbling it too, which drove Serena wild. Serena threaded her hands through that silky, unruly blond hair, grabbing handfuls to pull her back, every time she felt that Bernie was pushing away. Eventually Bernie collapsed against Serena, her head resting in the crook of her neck as their breathing slowed. They lay there quietly for nearly four minutes, Serena still gently stroking Bernie’s hair. Then Bernie tilted her head back to gaze at Serena and was overwhelmed by the look of desire that she saw on her face, the darkness of her eyes and she surged up to kiss her again, passionately, their mouths grinding against each other, tongues twisting and turning around, trying to reach as far as possible. Small moans issued from both of them as their hands grasped hold of arms and clothes in an effort to leave no space between them.  
Then suddenly Serena was pushing Bernie away so that she could stand up, and she did, grasping hold of Bernie’s hand to help her up too. When they were both standing Serena started to walk towards the stairs, pulling Bernie with her, but as she reached the bottom step Bernie put her hand on the newel post and put a brake on Serena’s progress up the stairs. She turned to look at Bernie, bewilderment showing on her face.

“Serena,” said Bernie softly, “ this… this doesn’t feel right, I don’t feel in control of myself… I’m..”

Serena gave a small cry.

“You’re what, Bernie? Scared? And you think I’m not? I’ve never been with a woman before, but I understand my own mind my own body. I want …you!”

And she took the hand that she was holding and placed it over her left breast, Bernie able to see and feel how hard her nipple was beneath her palm. They both gasped simultaneously, and Serena arched towards her with desire. Cradling her breast, rubbing her thumb across her nipple, Bernie circled her waist with her other arm and pulled her towards her.

“And I want you too…. so much it hurts.. but,”

“ I need you to stay,” said Serena, hoarsely. “Even if it means we only hold each other…. I don’t want you to go!”

Bernie dropped her arms to her sides and looking at Serena she finally nodded her agreement, following her to her room. Serena once again mindful of not disturbing Jason, asked her (now in hushed tones) not to use the main bathroom, just her en-suite. She showed her the drawer where she kept her nightwear, confident there would be something that Bernie would feel comfortable in and went into the bathroom. Bernie found a large t-shirt and a pair of sleep shorts that she could adjust to fit her smaller frame, and when Serena came out she went in to change. Serena had left her a brand new toothbrush and comb on the side of the basin, and ten minutes later she stood in the doorway, looking bashfully at Serena, who was already in bed.

Serena pulled back the covers and beckoned her over, and Bernie half stumbled to the bed sliding in to sit next to her, her back rigid against the headboard. Serena closed her eyes and an exasperated sigh escaped her lips, and she felt as though any minute she’d start to cry and then wouldn’t be able to stop.

“You were right,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. “I had no right to coerce you into staying… you.. you clearly wish you were anywhere but here…” and the tears that had been threatening to fall since she had got back from the wedding, started to trickle down her cheeks.

Bernie leaned forward and put her hand on Serena’s arm, but she shook it off.

“Just go… I know you want to and I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel trapped. That was never my intention, I only wanted to show you how… how much I cared. But it’s okay…. I get it, I really do.”

Bernie got out of bed and walked round to sit on the floor in front of Serena. She grabbed hold of her two hands and shook them firmly to get her to look at her.

“No, you don’t get it. And you don’t get to tell me how I feel. I’ve never been clever with words, always struggled to express my emotions, verbally. And how I feel about you scares me. Sometimes I want to hold you so tightly I’m frightened I won’t be able to let you go, that I’ll hurt you.”

Serena gasped, and pulled Bernie towards her, burying her face into her neck pressing her lips there before she whispered in her ear.

“Berenice Griselda Wolfe, there is only one way you could ever hurt me, and that’s if you leave me now, and I never see you again.

And Serena let go of Bernie and sat back searching her face to see what her reaction would be. She hoped that Bernie would see the love that she had for her, shining out of her eyes. Because she wasn’t going to pretend to herself any more that she felt anything less than love for this woman.  
Bernie got to her feet and walked round to the other side of the bed to slip in, next to Serena. She turned and gathered her into her arms.

“I’m sorry, yesterday just messed with my mind and I transferred my doubts and fears onto you, onto us. But I do want there to be an ‘us’……”

Serena sighed deeply, and they started to kiss, small, even chaste kisses one might say, but every time their lips met they both felt the surge of desire that went straight to their very core. They slid down until their heads were on the pillow and as they broke apart for a moment, Bernie spoke gently, not wanting to upset Serena any further.

“It’s very late… or very very early, and as much as I want to continue where this is heading, I think we should just try to sleep.. or rest, at least for a few hours. I don’t want our first time to be mixed up with all the hurt I’ve put you through over the last couple of hours. I want to savour every moment as I discover your body, treat you with the reverence you deserve.”

Serena blinked back her tears and nodded, smiling. She brushed back the tendrils of hair that were nearly covering Bernie’s face, so that she could stroke her cheek.

“Thank you,” she murmured, “did I mention that Jason is spending today with his friend Alan?”

And Serena’s eyes danced as she saw Bernie take in exactly what she had said. She turned away, so that Bernie could pull her closer, her back against Bernie’s front, Bernie’s left arm across her hips, hand flat on Serena’s stomach, making gentle circular movements that grew slower and slower as she relaxed, and they both drifted with their thoughts, until for both, the welcome embrace of sleep took them.

  
Chapter 3 and a (smutty) bit

(I know I could have finished it there but you should know by now I do like to include some writhing bodies at some point, and I feel I need to earn that M rating!)

 

Bernie roused up as she felt Serena try to untangle their limbs so she could switch off the alarm, and she did her best to pull her back onto the bed.

“Stop it!” she ordered. “ I want to go and organise Jason’s breakfast. He’ll be knocking at the door if he doesn’t hear me going downstairs in the next 10 minutes.”

Bernie reluctantly let her go, and watched with obvious pleasure as Serena walked over to where her dressing gown was hanging before she went into the en-suite. When she came out, merely 5 minutes later, Bernie’s eyes were still firmly fixed on the doorway, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Serena hadn’t intended to get dressed. In fact, and Bernie’s stomach flipped as she realised this, she was pretty certain that the nightgown she had been wearing, was now missing, which meant that underneath that dressing gown, Serena was naked. She gasped audibly, as a familiar ache started to build between her legs and she had to clench her thighs together to try to dull the sensation, which she found out, only made it worse. Serena’s face was a picture of delight as she saw the struggle that Bernie was experiencing, and she walked slowly over to the bed, her breasts swaying from side to side under the tightly belted robe.

“ It’s going to be about 45 mins before I return to you,” she said, seductively, “and by then I shall want to be sure you’re as ready as I am, to start our new relationship. So my suggestion is that you make use of the ‘facilities’ before then. Help yourself to any of the products you might need.”

And before Bernie could catch her breath, Serena was going out of the door, calling to Jason that she was just going to do his breakfast.

Bernie was out of bed and into the en-suite, faster than she thought possible. She stripped off the nightwear she had borrowed and went into the shower using Serena’s shower gel, which conjured up all sorts of arousing thoughts as the smell pervaded her nostrils.

‘ _Hell, that was a huge mistake. At this rate I’ll orgasm the moment she sets foot back in the room!’_

Once she’d finished washing, she steeled herself and turned the water to cold, standing underneath it for as long as she could stand it, which she had to admit, cooled her ardour a little, but not as much as she would have liked. Stepping out of the cubicle she grabbed a small hand towel to rub her hair as dry as she could, and used the same towel to pat down her body, not wanting to get too warm too soon. She debated slipping back into bed naked, but thought that might unnerve Serena a little, so grabbed the large t-shirt she had worn last night and slipped it back on, relieved to find it came to around her mid-thigh without the shorts. She scooted back into the bedroom and into the bed, pausing only long enough to open the curtains slightly, to let a few rays of sunshine in to lighten the room. She grabbed her phone and sent off a quick text to the office, explaining that unless fire and or flood were to invade the city of Holby, she would appreciate radio silence today.  
Not sure how long had passed since Serena had gone downstairs, she did her best to think of anything other that the image of them lying together, naked, and she closed her eyes and groaned.

It was only about 10 minutes later that she heard the front door close, and Jason shouting goodbye as he went down the drive. Her body started to tingle as she listened for Serena’s footsteps climbing the stairs, her heart beating so erratically, she wondered if Serena kept a defibrillator in her home. Her eyes flew open as she heard the bedroom door open, and Serena walked in, looking slightly less confident than when she had left. She walked over to the chest of drawers and took something out and then nodded her head towards the shower, to indicate she was just going to ‘freshen up’.  
As she closed the door behind her she let out her breath in a huge whoosh, and leant against the tiles, to steady herself. She did notice that Bernie had left things in a less than pristine state, but was so keyed up she didn’t really care. After a very quick shower she slipped on the clean nightdress she had taken from the drawer and put a trembling hand onto the door handle, opened it and walked hesitatingly over to the bed, where Bernie had thrown back the covers in anticipation.

Bernie stroked her still damp hair and pulled her round until they were face to face.

“You are so beautiful Serena,” she said, before placing a soft kiss on her lips. They pulled apart after a few seconds and after they checked each other for any sign of doubt, surged back together, the kiss deepening this time, Bernie’s tongue sweeping across, pushing gently at Serena’s mouth as she parted her lips to grant access. They kissed like this for minutes until Bernie eased them apart, noting the flush on Serena’s cheeks and how swollen her lips were. She kissed down her neck, and along her collarbone, stopping frequently to suck and nibble, and to check that Serena was still happy. What she saw were eyes as dark as she knew her own to be, and as her hand took the weight of one of Serena’s breasts, a hiss escaped Serena’s lips as she arched towards her. Bernie wanted to speak, wanted to tell her how she adored her but couldn’t find the breath she needed to do it her own chest rising and falling as she panted with desire for this woman. She raised her eyebrows as she grabbed the hem of her nightgown, seeking permission to remove it and was rewarded with a slight but definite nod.  
In the hope that Serena might feel more comfortable if she were the first to get naked she quickly pulled her t-shirt off, and sat there with her eyes closed for a second as she imagined Serena’s eyes raking down her body, giving her that moment to experience the sight of a woman’s body that was aching for her touch. As she opened her eyes she felt Serena’s hand trail fingers down her face and curl around her neck, pulling her into a sensuous kiss. Minutes later Bernie took hold of Serena’s nightgown again, and with trembling fingers pulled it over her head. She groaned at the sight of her breasts and pushed her gently down the bed until her head was resting back onto her pillow. She kissed her gently, reverently, before sliding her body on top of Serena’s, their breasts and hips pressed deliciously together, both of them moaning now.

Serena was feeling totally overwhelmed at how her body had responded to the sight of Bernie’s naked form, and when Bernie had removed her clothing she had felt a warmth between her legs which told her she was already so wet. She was panicking inside at how quickly she knew she would achieve an orgasm once Bernie touched her there. And then when Bernie slid on top of her, the nerve endings all over her body started to scream and her legs clamped together in an effort to delay the inevitable.  
Bernie stilled for a moment, and then brought her lips to Serena’s ear, sucking at the lobe, making Serena whimper.

“If it’s any reassurance, I’m as close to coming as I think you are, so I won’t be dragging this out….this time.”

Serena shivered at those words, both grateful, and now full of expectation that a large part of their day was going to be spent in this very room.

Bernie gently brought her one leg up and curled it around Serena’s hips, and then pushed her other leg between Serena’s two. Instinctively Serena pushed her upper leg between Bernie’s and as Bernie started to rock her hips, thrusting slightly at the same time, Serena copied her movements. Both of them could feel the wetness on their thighs and as the pace built, Serena thrust her head back showing Bernie’s a wonderful expanse of skin for her to feast upon. Serena had clutched Bernie’s backside digging her fingers into the soft flesh with every thrust from Bernie, a string of nearly incoherent words issuing from her mouth, the most frequent repetition being ‘oh god, oh god, oh god..’  
With a series of very quick drives from Bernie’s hips Serena rode to the crest of her orgasm and with a high pitched wail she came, and the stiffening and shuddering of her legs tipped Bernie over that mounting wave too, only an iron will of wanting Serena to orgasm first, had stopped her from coming in the first few seconds of them both getting naked.  
They lay gasping, curled into one another, the waves of pleasure still coursing through their bodies, and only very gradually did they begin to relax and attempt to untangle their bodies. They eventually lay side by side their hands clasped together between them. Bernie felt Serena start to shake, and she propped herself up on one elbow, terrified that she was crying. As she looked down on her, she realised she was trying to stifle some giggles, and Bernie waited for her to open her eyes and look at her before requesting an explanation.

“I know it’s been a while since I took someone to bed,” she muttered, “ but I didn’t think my performance warranted laughter?”   
She raised an eyebrow and smiled fondly to show Serena she really wasn’t offended.  
Serena looked at her apologetically.

“No, definitely no complaints on your performance here. I was just thanking my lucky stars that you encouraged me to wait until we were alone in the house. I don’t think I’ve made that much noise during sex for…..well, ever!”

She put her hand behind Bernie’s head and pulled her down into another passionate kiss, murmuring ‘thank you’ just before their lips met.   
When they broke apart, minutes later, Serena nuzzled into Bernie’s neck.

“How was….. did…. I mean, did you…”  
Serena was blushing and stumbling over her words and Bernie thought it quite adorable, and couldn’t resist teasing her.

“Are you asking me if I had an orgasm Ms Campbell?”

Serena nodded, still unable to look her in the eye. Bernie put her mouth by her ear again and whispered.  
“Oh, yes… I did, but you were making so much noise you didn’t hear me. Not that I think I’m ever likely to be much of a match for your vocal accompaniment.”  
And Serena smiled, her eyes dancing as she looked at Bernie, scarcely able to believe that she was lying in her bed next to a woman, next to Bernie, who right now was licking and sucking around her ear which was causing all sorts of stirrings between her legs…. again.

Bernie reached across Serena and started to move the duvet down, and Serena grabbed at it without thinking, suddenly feeling shy. Bernie paused to stroke Serena’s face, dragging her fingers down to her shoulder drawing little patterns along her collarbone.

“I want to see you,” she said quietly. “Please?”

Serena relinquished her hold on the cover and Bernie pushed it down to her waist, catching her breath as she watched Serena’s nipples pucker as they reacted to the cooler air. She passed her hand over them, not quite touching, teasing, until she could resist no longer and bent her head to lap at one, while her fingers gently pulled at the other. Serena arched upwards at her touch, her hands grabbing at the sheet beneath her, feeling what seemed like bolts of electricity shooting down from her breasts to the very core of her being. She began to push Bernie’s hand away, feeling that she would come again within seconds, and Bernie paused and lifted her head to see the wildness in her eyes. Keeping her gaze firmly fixed on Serena’s face she reached down to push the cover completely off the bed and then swung her leg right across Serena’s body, so that she was straddling her waist, kneeling above her, and for a few moments Serena was lost in the sight of Bernie’s body. The sun’s rays glinting off her hair, the sheen of sweat upon her torso and she reached out to fondle her breasts delighting in the whimper that Bernie could not contain as she pulled and pinched her dusky pink nipples until they were standing proud.   
Bernie caught hold of Serena’s hands and pushed them up above her head and encouraged her to hold on to the rails there. Serena had never felt so exposed as Bernie trailed her fingers back down her body stopping on her journey south to kiss and suck her breasts, using her tongue to bring Serena the utmost pleasure.  
Serena’s eyes closed in ecstasy as Bernie kissed around her navel and then down over her stomach, finally planting a kiss right at the apex of her thighs, which were currently clamped tightly together. Gently, oh so gently, Bernie eased Serena’s legs apart, and raising her head said softly,

“Serena, look at me, please, open your eyes and look at me.”

Serena’s eyes fluttered open and then closed again as she took in the sight of Bernie, her chin resting on her stomach, waiting. She tried again and this time as her eyes remained open, Bernie moved back up the bed and kissed her hard, and as she did, Serena felt one of her fingers slide through the folds of her labia and into her. Twisting slightly and breaking them apart to gasp, “More…” , Serena pushed her hips upwards as she felt another long finger join the first and then Bernie was moving them in and out in a steady rhythm watching Serena’s face intently as her orgasm built once more. It took only the merest touch of Bernie’s hand against her clit and Serena’s whole body shook as she came for a second time, the ripples from it making her buttocks clench and her breathing to falter for ages after.  
Bernie straddled her once more and stroked her face, gently loosing her fingers from the bed rail they were still grasping hold of, as if to a branch that was keeping her head above water.   
As she regained her sensibilities, Serena opened her eyes to see Bernie looking at her with such love that she felt as if her heart would explode.

“Okay?” Bernie asked fondly, and Serena, still in a state where she seemed to have been robbed of the power of speech, pushed up from the bed to crush their lips together, her arms wrapping around Bernie, her fingers raking across the smooth skin of her back. She let go just as suddenly and flopped back onto the pillow, her hands dropping to rest on Bernie’s hips. She was lost in wonder of this stunning woman who had changed her life in such a short time. She stroked along Bernie’s thighs and then brought her hand and pushed gently between her legs that were spread either side of her body. Bernie trembled as she raised herself slightly to afford Serena access to her core.   
Sensing that Serena was hesitant about exactly how she thought she would want to be touched, Bernie covered Serena’s hand with her own and placed it over the entire length of her sex, and then dragged her fingers from back to front, and as they caught the tip of her clit, Bernie gave a deep moan. Serena had pulled her hand away and was looking in amazement at how wet it was, when she caught Bernie’s eye, her face showing her wonder.

“You….” Bernie panted, “ You… do that to me……..Please, Serena, I want you inside…..please?”  
Serena moved her hand back and tentatively curled two fingers into her, causing Bernie to give a guttural “Yes”.

As Bernie rose and fell onto her fingers, keeping tempo with her thrusts, Serena was captivated by watching how this strong female was coming undone before her very eyes. She had her other hand resting on her waist to steady Bernie, but she couldn’t resist reaching up to fondle one of the breasts that were swaying above her, and as she pulled at the nipple, Bernie positively squealed with delight.

Bernie’s breathing grew more and more ragged, and she gasped out “Close…….so…close!”, and Serena could see a deep flush spreading up from her chest to her neck, and as Bernie had done with her she brought the heel of her hand to push against her clit as she increased the tempo.  
With a juddering sigh, Bernie came, and Serena felt the gush of her release over her fingers and hand, as she toppled forward onto the pillow next to Serena, utterly spent.   
Serena carefully removed her fingers and wrapped her arms around her, stroking down her spine, holding her until she managed to regulate her breathing once again. As her eyes opened she found Serena gazing at her, seemingly seeing into her soul. They kissed each other gently, caressing each other’s bodies, neither of them wanting to burst the bubble of their union by speaking.

It was nearly an hour later that they roused from their post coital nap. Both feeling sated and in need of a shower.

“Must be our age,” murmured Bernie, still a little drowsy.

“Rubbish,” said Serena, “it’s a lot more to do with 2 mind-blowing orgasms in the space of 30 minutes……. At least they were mind-blowing for me….. what about you?”

Bernie cupped Serena’s face with her hands and kissed her, and kissed her until she wasn’t sure which way was up.  
“Very much two of the most enthralling, titillating, lusty orgasms I’ve ever had,” whispered Bernie, suddenly **not** at a loss for words.  
“We could always try for a third, if you’re so inclined?”

And she moved one of her hands southwards, gliding over Serena’s smooth soft stomach.

Serena twisted out of her reach, and sat up looking down at Bernie.

“Really? I mean, well, yes…… I am… so inclined, but…” and Serena flushed a beautiful shade of pink (in Bernie’s opinion), “it’s just that…”

Bernie’s reached up and started fondling Serena’s breasts.

“Is it just that you have the most glorious breasts?” she asked. “They shall henceforth be called my ‘mounds of joy’” and Bernie pushed herself up to rest her head on them, loving the breathy chuckle that Serena gave, which caused her head to bounce slightly against them.

“No, it’s just that I’m a wee bit……. sticky? I was thinking I need a shower.”

Bernie’s face lit up, and she swung her legs out of bed.

“Me too…..!!”

And grabbing Serena’s hand she pulled her into the en-suite, and into the shower. And although Serena had, in the past, found the shower an adequate place to relieve certain ‘tensions’ she had never imagined anything could be as wonderful as sharing a shower (and her body) with a voracious Ms Wolfe.   
And she braced herself the best she could against the slippery tiles, as she did, (as Bernie had promised) achieve her knee trembling third orgasm, she made a note in her head that a towel rail, and an anti-slip base might not go amiss if this was likely to be a regular occurrence.   
As they stumbled back into the bedroom, sopping wet, and took in the state of the bed they had recently vacated, Serena looked at Bernie and shrugged before pushing her down onto the mattress.

“We can always shower again……. later!

Bernie grinned.

“What time are you expecting Jason home?”

Serena looked at the alarm clock.

“Oh, I reckon we’ve got another 3 or 4.”

“Hours?”

“Times!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve really enjoyed writing this, and I therefore hope you’ve enjoyed reading it. All the kudos and very kind comments are so much appreciated, and what spurs me on.
> 
> I’ve got my work cut out now getting a possible one-shot ready for the Holby City Scrub In, so I hope you’ll check that out too...


End file.
